T-Mobile announced that they will be shipping units of the highly anticipated Google G1 cell phone to arrive to customers on October 22, 2008. The phone will rival Apple’s iphone and the Blackberry at the top of the cell phone/PDA market.
The G1 phone uses Google’s Android software, a platform Google says is the closest recreation of the desktop computing experience offered on a handheld device. The Android software is able to access Gmail, Gchat, Google Maps, YouTube and a dizzying array of third party applications. It has a touchscreen like the iPhone but offers a flip-up QWERTY keyboard, the lack of which has been a main complaint of the iPhone. Like the iPhone, the G1 will have a SIM lock that prevents it from working with any carrier besides T-Mobile.
T-Mobile will offer the G1 for $179 with a two-year contract agreement. They will offer internet service on the same high speed 3G network utilized by AT&T’s iPhone, but some skeptics wonder if they will have adequate coverage by the October 22 shipping date. T-Mobile has 31 million customers in the United States and 100+ million European users who will also be able to get the G1 come November.
Android is an open-source platform, meaning that users can adjust, create, distribute and manage features on the phone to best suit their needs. Andry Rubin, a Google mobile platforms executive comments on the importance of open-sourcing: "Because the Android platform is open, we think Android if future-proof."
Sources: Computerworld.com, Telegraph
International iPhone users have already sounded off on GroundReport.
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