Google's T-Mobile G1

Last week, T-Mobile unveiled the much-anticipated T-Mobile G1, aka the “T-Mobile G1.” It’s the first phone powered by Android (software platform/operating system developed by Google), and comes with a full touch-screen with a QWERTY keyboard, and includes the Google products you’ve come to know and love: Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube and more.

“We are proud that T-Mobile is the first operator in the world to launch an Android-powered mobile device,” says Christopher Schläffer, group product and innovation officer of Deutsche Telekom. “With the T-Mobile G1, we are continuing our strong tradition of being pioneers in the world of the open Internet.”

Key features of the Google phone include:

* Three-megapixel camera with photo sharing capabilities

* Pre-installed 1GB Micro SD memory card (phone can take up to an 8GB card)

* Built-in messaging client with support for Google Talk, AOL, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger

* Trackball for one-handed navigation

* Full HTML web browser and zoom function

* Music player that supports mp3, m4a, AMR, WMA, MIDI, WAV, Ogg Vorbis formats

* GPS, Bluetooth and T-Mobile’s myFaves-enabled * Voice recognition, voice dialing and speakerphone


“Increasingly, connectivity does not just mean a phone call, but rather access to the world’s information,” says Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms for Google. “Today’s news signifies an important first step for the Open Handset Alliance: With Android, we’ve opened the mobile Web not only for millions of users, but also to mobilize the developer community that understands the next most important platform in the world rests in the palm of our hand.”

My guess is this is supposed to be an iPhone competitor. I haven’t been able to see one of these up close yet, but it looks good in pictures. We’ll see it in black, brown or white, and you can pre-order it at www.T-MobileG1.com or wait until Oct. 22 and pick it up at your nearest T-Mobile retailer. Full retail price for the TMobilG1 is $399.99; for current T-Mobile customers eligible for a two-year upgrade, the price is $179.99 ($20 cheaper than a 8GB iPhone) with a two-year voice and data agreement.