T-Mobile announced the first Google Android phone , the G1, today in a press conference in New York City. Built by HTC (the leading manufacturer of Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones) and scheduled for delivery on October 22, the phone sports an operating system by Google, a slide out keyboard, a touch screen, GPS and WiFi. Data services on the global G1 from T-Mobile include dual-band UMTS and quad-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE data for $25 for unlimited email and web and limited messaging and $35 for unlimited email, web and SMS.
The phone retails for $179, a $20 discount to the 8G 3G AT&T iPhone.
Google has enabled an extensive application marketplace so developers can deploy any application on Android, which seemed to some to be an open implementation.
The phone seems like a solid value – less money for less hype, but roughly equivalent features. I think I'm definitely going to check this phone out at my local T-Mobile store.
