Toronto (OTL) - After months of anticipation and hype, Google and T-Mobile unveiled the first commercial mobile phone to use the Google Android operating system.
Android has been designed primarily to compete against the iPhone’s touchscreen interface and first impressions are that it does a good job.
The G1 smartphone is packed full of a large variety of new features.
These features will let the G1 go head to head with the Apple iPhone, RiM’s BlackBerry, and other smartphones on the market.
The device is Google-friendly, with a built-in button on the keyboard as a shortcut for online searches. The phone does not connect with Apple’s iTunes service, but it comes with software for buying and downloading music from Amazon.com’s music store.
It will ship on October 22nd with a price tag of $179 with a two-year service contract.
This is far cheaper that the Apple iPhone, sold by AT&T in the U.S.
The 3G data plans from T-Mobile are also cheaper than those of the iPhone 3G.
The device is packed with features, including a full web browser, and much more.
Out of the box Google Android phone users can read Word, PDF and Excel documents but initially at least won’t be able to synch Microsoft Exchange mail with their phone. The OS is also integrated with the Amazon MP3 store, allowing users to easily buy digital music.
The marketplace is also included. The only thing left to do is for T-Mobile to sell the phone.