C'mon, you knew this was coming. Not a moment after Google does its big reveal on the Android OS and forthcoming multi-manufacturer GPhone, the rumor mill has already starting churning with wild imaginings and fantastic leaps of logic. A not-so gigantic jump comes as speculation that HTC's Omni -- which we first heard about nearly a year ago -- is actually the phone that has been referred to as the "Dream," Google's OS demo unit. We have to admit, there are some similarities between the two, not the least of which are the 3-inch by 5-inch size, rectangular touchscreen, full QWERTY that swivels out (which according to this earlier rendering, goes in more than one direction), and a beveled edge that "nestles in the palm." We remind you, of course, that this is just the first in a long line of rumors trying to pinpoint the "real" GPhone -- HTC or otherwise -- so don't get too excited just yet.

Update: As a commenter points out, the "earlier rendering" is actually the precursor to the Omni, the HTC Universal, though its screen mechanism bears a resemblance to the one described in the original Forbes article.

If GPS, a wide VGA display, and mere HSDPA weren't enough to get tongues a-waggin' for HTC's long-overdue Universal successor, it looks like the Omni will be throwing in a few additional goodies to sweeten the pot for its supposed October launch. Notably, pdadb.net sez that the Omni will be rocking a full HSPA implementation -- that's HSDPA plus HSUPA for the lay folk -- plus a 3.1 megapixel cam and LED (what, no xenon?) flash. If we had our druthers, we'd like to see a 5 megapixel autofocus behemoth in there, but you know, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[Via Unwired View]

Well don't that look nice? Meet the supposed HTC Omni communicator... rendering. Unwired View is the source of these pictures and some more detailed specs. Notably, it'll be sporting VGA and TV-outputs along with that biggie 4-inch, 800 x 480 pixel WVGA display when launched in October. You know, if true. It'll also be packing a GPS/A-GPS nugget in a 130 x 81 x 16-mm slab making it a bit smaller than an Advantage but bigger than the phone-that-shall-not-be-named. Hey, that's what they're saying. Rounding things out are UMTS/HSDPA and WinMo 6 like we heard before. Though honestly, we never tire of hearing it.

Hope you haven't forgotten about the elusive HTC Omni, as that self-coined Universal successor now has an (almost complete) lineup of specs to go along with it. The handset will reportedly sport a whopping 4-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, boast a slightly slimmer / lighter enclosure than found on the Universal, and will pack a 400MHz Samsung SC244X processor, Qualcomm MSM 7200 chip, GSM / GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA compatibility, 128MB of RAM, full QWERTY keyboard, 802.11b/g, and Bluetooth 2.0. Unfortunately, one of the most anticipated details -- whether or not it'll boast VGA out -- remains unconfirmed, but at least we've got enough hard deets to assure us that this mobile should elicit quite a few grins when finally hits the streets.

[Thanks, Led]

Amidst a flurry of recent product announcements (and leaks) out of the HTC camp, their king-of-the-hill Universal (pictured) kinda got lost in all the hubbub. What's next for the psuedo-laptop of the Windows Mobile world? MoDaCo is reporting that the "Omni" will serve as the Hermes to the Universal's Wizard (if you will) by taking the Universal form factor, tacking on an HSDPA radio, and swapping out the Intel processor for a speedier Samsung core. As an added bonus, the Omni should be a bit slimmer than the model it replaces and rock Windows Mobile 5 AKU3, giving hope that the device will have VGA out capability. If HTC can finalize the specs in short order, we could allegedly see this thing as early as the end of this year, though 1H 2007 seems the more likely target.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]