Next Generation Phones - Google Launches The G1 Phone!!!!!!!

by **J The Kidd** Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:46 pm

Well, it's finally official (this morning T-Mobile and Google made
an announcement in NYC, which is where we are right now). The Google
phone is officially now known as the T-Mobile G1. When closed it looks
an awful lot like the iPhone, which a touchscreen that, at least from
watching the video T-Mobile showed us this morning, looks an awful lot
like the iPhone. But that screen actually swivels out to reveal a full
QWERTY keyboard, something it iPhone doesn't have.

The phone will cost $179, and existing T-Mobile customers can
preorder the phone starting today and have it shipped to their homes by
the official commercial launch date of October 22.

The G1 is 3G-enabled, so it'll work on T-Mobile's newly rolled out 3G
network, which T-Mobile USA CTO says will be in 22 markets by the
launch date and 27 markets by mid-November of this year. It also has
Wi-Fi.

It'll read Word, Excel, and other Office documents, but so far isn't
compatible with Microsoft Exchange, so no work e-mail compatibility,
yet.

Some other cool features we saw demo'd during the presentation: music
purchases available through a special Amazon.com music store, drag and
drop functionality for images (which can be dragged right onto your
screen saver) and applications, Google Street View with directions for
getting around town while you drive or walk (plus the ability to get
directions instantly by clicking on any address), and ShopSavvy (an app
that lets you scan the barcode on any product with the phone and
immediately get the best prices via the Internet).

At any rate, that's the basic word on the G1's basic features. As soon
as we get more hands on, a bit later today, we'll update you. We're
particularly eager to see just how nimble and responsive the
touchscreen is, and whether surfing is at all faster than the iPhone's
(according to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who made a surprise
appearance at the announcement, it is -- presumably the G1's browser is
optimized for surfing and search).

For more specific details on today's announcement,