HTC Corporation, the mobile-phone maker that delivered to the market the first handset running under Google's Android operating system, the HTC Dream (aka T-Mobile G1), is rumored to be ramping up for the launch of an Android-powered mobile phone that will boast a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor inside. Moreover, the said device is expected to become available for purchase sometime in the first quarter of the next year, at least on the Taiwan market, the handset vendor's homeland.

This is not the first time most of you might hear about the Snapdragon-powered handset from HTC that should run under Android. The phone already emerged into the wild as the HTC Dragon or Passion, and was rumored to come to Verizon Wireless's airwaves in the United States. However, although there have passed about two months since the first appearance of the handset, nothing has been announced officially yet.

The news on the possible Q1 launch of the device emerged via news site DigiTimes, which cited “industry sources” pointing towards the upcoming availability of the phone on the Taiwanese market. Moreover, it seems that other handset makers around the world also plan on delivering Android devices to the country, and that, while at the end of 2009 Taiwan will have around eight Android phones available, their number is likely to double by the end of the first quarter.

According to the sources, the phones expected to be launched in Q1 should come from Samsung Electronics (Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700), Motorola (Cliq/Dext and the yet-unannounced Motus), Sony Ericssion (the recently unveiled XPERIA X10) and LG Electronics with its touchscreen models. This suggests that LG is indeed working on new Android phones, as rumored before, and that Motorola's Motus might arrive sooner than expected. As for the HTC Snapdragon phone, it might be accompanied by the Acer Liquid, as well as by a Garmin-Asustek Android phone.