T-Mobile USA has officially confirmed what unofficially has been the talk of the town--the debut of the first Google Android based mobile phone. The T-Mobile G1 is made by HTC (the device was code named the HTC Dream) and was introduced this morning at a press conference in NYC. While this is the first Android device to be announced there should be many more following. The G1 is a T-Mobile exclusive (both USA and Europe).
Specs and features of the G1 include:
- Quad-band GSM / Dual band 3G / EDGE / Wifi
- Touch screen with iPhone like dragging
- Slide out QWERTY keyboard
- 3 megapixel camera with auto-focus
- Amazon MP3 store app to download DRM-free songs over WiFi
- Multi-tasking
- IM (Yahoo/MSN/AIM/Google Talk)
- Google Maps with street view
- HTML email client (POP3 and IMAP) plus contact and calendar syncing for Gmail users
- Web browser using WebKit
The G1 will retail for $179 with a 2-year contract when it starts shipping on October 22nd. Current customers can order online and the G1 will be delivered when it's launched. Like the iPhone, the G1's service agreement requires a data plan. Unlimited data with 400 messages runs $25 monthly while unlimited data and unlimited messaging will cost $35 monthly. Since it's a 3G device the phone will only be made available in T-Mobile's current 3G markets. You can use T-Mobile USA's coverage search tool to find out if your area is 3G or not, though the number of markets should be expanding rapidly. The G1 will not be available without a contract or via pre-paid service.
