Google and US telecom carrier T-Mobile unveiled on Tuesday the first mobile device powered by the Internet search giant’s software, Android.
The T-Mobile G1 will cost $179 (Rs 8,200 approx) and will be available in the US from October 22, said Cole Brodman, T-Mobile chief technology and innovation officer, adding that other markets will see the phone next year.
Brodman called the phone, built by HTC, a “game-changing” device that will “power the new mobile Internet of the future.”
The phone runs on Google’s open-source Android software, which the company hopes will eventually become the dominant operating system for mobile phones and make handsets compatible with the networks of multiple carriers.
The G1 offers many of the features of Apple’s iPhone, including a touchscreen, high-speed Internet browsing, Wi-Fi, email and SMS texting. It can also run applications and services such as Google Maps with StreetView, push-Gmail and YouTube.
Unlike the iPhone, however, it comes with a trackball and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard.
The Chrome-based Web browser allows users to see any page the way it was meant to be seen, and then zoom in to expand any section by simply tapping the screen.
Also, in a direct challenge to Apple’s iTunes, Internet retail giant Amazon.com announced that the entire catalogue of the Amazon MP3 music store would be available on the new phone.
The G1 will also feature Android Market, where customers can find and download applications to expand and personalise their phone.
No related posts.