Gadget blog Gizmodo allegedly has some "spy shots" of the forthcoming HTC Android G2. We wrote about the G2 when the rumor first surfaced. Then, it was supposed to come out in April. Gizmodo is now saying that it has heard the release will be in "mid-May."

Samsung and Motorola are the other two hardware OEMs supposed to release Android phones in the US in 2009. However, Motorola's recent layoffs and financial difficulties raise questions in my mind about whether it will be able to do so before the end of the year at the very earliest. 

The original G1 is on sale in the UK and T-Mobile is starting to roll out the device throughout Europe. 

The G2 camera is supposed to offer 3.2 megapixels. (I think that better cameras are one potential area of differentiation, especially vs. the iPhone.) Most noteworthy however is the fact that the new Android phone is reportedly thinner, due to the absence of a physical keyboard. The current G1 itself has no "virtual keyboard" but is supposed to get one with an imminent software update.

When I first wrote about the G2 I remarked that the absence of a physical keyboard is an ironic development given that it was promoted as one of the chief benefits the G1 offered vs. the iPhone. Palm's new Pre offers both a physical and virtual keyboard.