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UPDATED: T-Mobile launches G1 phone with Google Android
T-Mobile is unveiling the first cell phone with Google’s Android operating system this morning. A webcast of the event is ongoing here.
The phone will be available at certain T-Mobile stores and online on Oct. 22 for a price of $179 with a two-year voice and data agreement. The G1 will also be available in the United Kingdom in November, and across Europe in the first quarter of 2009.
While the company has not shown the handset yet, a press release describes it as combining “full touch-screen functionality and a QWERTY keyboard with a mobile Web experience that includes the popular Google products that millions have enjoyed on the desktop, including Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube and others.”
UPDATE:
The first look at the G1 shows a large touch-screen phone reminiscent of the Apple iPhone with the added bonus of a keyboard hidden beneath the slide-out screen plus a trackball.
More details on the G1 from the company:
-T-Mobile G1 is the first phone to provide access to Android Market, where customers can find and download unique applications to expand and personalize their phone.
-With one-click contextual search, customers can search for relevant information with a touch of a finger.
-A full HTML Web browser allows users to see any Web page the way it was designed to be seen, and then easily zoom in to expand any section by simply tapping on the screen.
-Built-in support for T-Mobile’s 3G and EDGE network as well as Wi-Fi.
-With Google Maps, T-Mobile G1 users can instantly view maps and satellite imagery, as well as find local business and get driving directions.
-The T-Mobile G1 also includes Google Maps Street View, allowing customers to explore cities at street-level virtually while on the go.
-The Google Maps feature syncs with the built-in compass on the phone - an industry first - to allow users to view locations and navigate 360 degrees by simply moving the phone with their hand.
-The T-Mobile G1 multitasks, so you can read a Web page while also downloading your e-mail in the background.
-It combines Instant Messaging support for Google Talk, as well as AOL, Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger in the U.S.
-A 3-megapixel camera with photo-sharing capabilities.
-Built-in support for YouTube.
-The T-Mobile G1 comes pre-loaded with a new application developed by Amazon.com that gives customers easy access to Amazon MP3, Amazon.com’s digital music download store with more than 6 million DRM-free MP3 tracks.
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