world’s first Android-powered phone

T-Mobile launched the world’s first Android-powered mobile phone in partnership with Google. Available soon only for T-Mobile customers spanning two continents, the T-Mobile G1 combines 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.

“We are proud that T-Mobile is the first operator in the world to launch an Android-powered mobile device,” said Christopher Schläffer, group product and innovation officer of Deutsche Telekom. “Since 2005, Google has been an established partner in T-Mobile’s groundbreaking approach to bringing the open mobile Internet to the mass market. With the T-Mobile G1, we are continuing our strong tradition of being pioneers in the world of the open Internet.”

Some Interesting News about T-Mobile G1 (Google Android Phone) Phone:

1. G1 Phone is some what like iPhone only difference is keypad
2. It is dual-band 1700MHz and 2100 MHz UMTS and quad-band GSM/EDGE.
3. It supports AAC, MP3, WMA

Google Map Street View on Android OS

The G1 offers a lot of location based services including the ability to see where your friends are. Similar to Buddy Beacon the G1 can help you locate others as well as broadcast your location, however it is not limited to those who are using a specific application. It is the same with all Android phones.

Communicating on the Go:

The T-Mobile G1 features a rich HTML e-mail client, which seamlessly syncs your e-mail, calendar and contacts from Gmail as well as most other POP3 or IMAP e-mail services. 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! Messenge and Windows Live Messenger in the U.S. With access to high-speed Web browsing and a 3-megapixel camera with photo-sharing capabilities, the T-Mobile G1 is ideal for balancing a busy lifestyle, whether sharing pictures, checking the latest sports scores or accessing social networking sites.

Embracing User-Generated Content:

Customers can use the T-Mobile G1's 3G and Wi-Fi connection to attach and share pictures over email and MMS or download music from their favorite web sites, and soon, upload and post pictures to their personal blog. Built-in support for YouTube allows customers to enjoy YouTube's originally-created content, easily navigate through YouTube's familiar video browsing categories or search for specific videos.

Music at Your Fingertips:

The T-Mobile G1 comes pre-loaded with a new application developed by Amazon.com that gives customers access to Amazon MP3, Amazon.com’s digital music download store with more than 6 million DRM-free MP3 tracks. Using the new application, T-Mobile G1 customers are able to search, sample, purchase and download music from Amazon MP3 directly to their device (downloading music from Amazon MP3 using the T-Mobile G1 requires a Wi-Fi connection; searching, sampling and purchasing music can be done anywhere with a cellular connection). The T-Mobile G1 will be the first device with the Amazon MP3 mobile application pre-loaded.

Pre-loaded applications in G1:

The G1 comes pre-loaded with many useful applications including Google Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail, Contacts, Calendar and IM. Sing in just once with you Google account and it will automatically synchronize all of your applications. You can even protect your data with a secure “lock pattern”

Let’s look at some of the problems which Google Android/the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) is supposed to have had in the last months:

1. Developers supposedly have been staying away from Android and focusing on the systems already out there: BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Mobile and the iPhone;
2. Open Handset Alliance Member Sprint was arguing that Google Android is not addressing “industry fundamentals more pragmatically”;
3. Google was rumored to build its own “Gphone”;
4. Most recently HTC is supposed to be “having structural problems to incorporate Google’s demanded feature set” and not being able to make it this year.

I think the success of the Android-based Dream will be based on how well the software and applications work. Apple's open API (application programming interface) for the iPhone and its App Store, where applications are easily sold and downloaded, have created a robust marketplace for new applications for the iPhone.

Android, which is built on an open-source platform, promises to offer developers an easier way to develop new applications. And this will likely be the case. But the fact that Android will be used on hundreds of different handsets might complicate application development and distribution.

Android is also supposed to have tighter integration with many Google applications. It will be interesting to see if easy access to these applications and the Android Market will satisfy customers enough to entice them to choose the Dream over an iPhone or BlackBerry.