In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., a company led by Andy Rubin which was working on unspecified software for mobile devices.

The January 2007 unveiling of the iPhone, Apple's first smartphone, and its pioneering design aspects, caught Rubin off-guard and led to a change in course for the project.

[4][5] While Google indicated in 2008 that several Linux devices were being tested in preparation for the official public launch of Android, only one was to be released in the United States that year—the HTC Dream.

Plans called for the Dream to be released on T-Mobile USA by the end of the year (with some reports suggesting October 2008), targeting the holiday shopping season.

[14] The Dream does not include a traditional headphone jack, requiring an adapter for HTC's proprietary (but Mini-USB compatible) "ExtUSB" port located on the bottom of the device.

The G1 as sold by T-Mobile also shipped with an Amazon MP3 app, allowing users to purchase DRM-free music online, and download them straight to the device via Wi-Fi.

Shortly after the release of the Dream, developers discovered a software exploit which would allow a user to gain superuser access to the phone—a process which would be referred to as "rooting".

[27] In August 2012, a group of users released an unofficial port of a later version of Android, 4.1 "Jelly Bean", for the Dream as a proof of concept.

However, the port lacked key functionality, and had severe performance issues due to the phone's relatively weak hardware in comparison to the modern devices that 4.1 was designed for.

[15][16][17] Its display was considered sufficient for a phone of its class, but John Brandon of TechRadar felt that it was not good enough for watching videos due to its poor contrast and small size in comparison to the iPhone.

[16][17] Android itself was considered to still be in its infancy (primarily due to its bare-bones functionality in certain areas, limited application catalog, lack of multitouch gestures, or syncing with certain enterprise platforms), but showed promise through its customizable interface, increased flexibility over iOS, its notification system, ability to display security permissions when downloading apps, and its heavy integration with Google services.

[16][18] Brandon gave the Dream a 4.5/5, despite stating that it was "no Apple iPhone killer", given its lower quality of its application selection and multimedia features in comparison.