The first of the 'Google phones' is an HTC smartphone dubbed the G1, a touch-screen phone with a slide-out keyboard that T-Mobile is taking orders for at a price of $179 US.
The phone will be available from Oct. 22 in the U.S.; it will reach Britain with T-Mobile's UK unit in November and other European countries such as Germany, Netherlands and the Czech Republic in the first quarter of 2009.
The first of the 'Google phones,' an HTC smartphone, has been dubbed the G1.View Image
The first of the 'Google phones,' an HTC smartphone, has been dubbed the G1.
The phone, the latest entrant in a market hotly contested by Research in Motion's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone, is not available yet in Canada.
Asked if it plans to introduce the G1 in Canada, Rogers - the Canadian carrier with a GSM network which is what T-Mobile operates - declined to comment.
Google launched the Android operating system as the first open technology mobile operating system and one developed by the Open Handset Alliance of more than 30 technology and mobile companies.
The new phone offers the features of the competition including Internet browsing, GPS, contacts, short messaging, WiFi and others. It has a full QWERTY keyboard, free push Gmail, support for YouTube and a built-in compass.
The browser is based on the same technology as the recently released Chrome computer browser, but made for the mobile application.
The phone, which is available in three colours (black, white and brown), undercuts iPhone pricing and appeals to wireless Web users with Web surfing and a range of Google services.
"If we see more mobile Web usage we'll be happy," Google co-founder Sergey Brin told Reuters after arriving at the launch on rollerblades.
His company, a powerhouse in Web advertising, would benefit if Android led more cell users to spend time on the Web, no matter which phone they are using.
Google is well ahead of rivals Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp in Web search on computers, but it wants to use Android to ensure this dominance carries over to the phone when mobile Web surfing becomes more popular.
But while no clear mobile Web winner has emerged so far, Google faces stiff competition from longer established phone players such as Nokia, Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Microsoft, as well as Apple.
Analysts saw the device as a "good first step" rather than an iPhone killer, but some expect as many as 400,000 to be sold in the United States by year's end. A T-Mobile executive said the estimate was "not incredible."
"The G1 doesn't threaten Apple now, but Android has raised the bar for competing mobile platforms. The bigger concern here is for Microsoft and Nokia if Google can win over the hearts and minds of operators and developers," said Geoff Blaber, an analyst with British firm CCS Insight.
Both Google and Apple are wooing developers to create applications for their devices, but unlike Apple, which keeps a tight grip on the iPhone's hardware and operating software, Google's Android is open to be changed by outside developers.
Asked if the user interface of future Google phones would look anything like the first one, Andy Rubin, who developed Android for Google, said: "It's completely replaceable."
For example, Leslie Grandy, T-Mobile USA's product development vice-president, sees the carrier selling a range of Google-powered phones in future, including more basic ones without a touch screen or full keyboards.
The new phone features Android Market, where customers can find and download free applications to expand and personalize their phones. T-Mobile's Grandy said the marketplace would eventually include applications that are sold for a fee.
"Because the platform is open, we think Android is somewhat future proof," Rubin, Google director of mobile platforms, told the audience at the launch.
A similar strategy helped increase the buzz around Apple's second-generation iPhone, which can support more than 3,000 applications available online.
Amazon.com's digital music store will be loaded on the Google's G1 Mobile, allowing users to search, download, buy and play more than six million songs, pitting it against iPhone's music player.
Android also competes with Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, which has been solidly gaining ground. HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou told Reuters his company, which has concentrated on Windows phones so far, is already planning more Android and Windows devices.
Between the United States and the United Kingdom, Chou said he expects to have sold more than 400,000 G1s by year's end.
Android's biggest competitor is Symbian software, which represents 60 per cent of the smartphone market and which Nokia plans to buy out and open to other developers.
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