After months of anticipation T-Mobile and Google have unveiled the G1, the first commercially available handheld to run Google's Linux-based Android mobile operating system. The smartphone, made by HTC, will be available on Oct. 22. The G1 will support 3G, EDGE and WiFi, includes a wide touchscreen besides of a slideout QWERTY keyboard, a 3-megapixel camera, a music player and applications like Google Maps with Street View. More applications are expected soon, developed by the community.
In response to Android's entry into the market, the leading cell phone maker Nokia is planning on freeing and making its Symbian platform royalty-free too. Nokia's David Rivas, head of technology management at Nokia's S60 business sees little future for the practice of billing handset vendors for each phone sold with a particular operating system.
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Member since:2005-11-10
The iPhone is already been out for a year, so it's not really a valid excuse for T-Mobile to be tripping over the same problems Apple had.
No 3.5m headjack?? Really? Seriously, what is the name of the person who OK'd that decision? They should be made into a piñata.
I find T-Mobile and other carriers to be bumbling idiots who can't get their act together. I expect this new device to not even register as a blip on the radar compared to iPhone growth.
Being as good as the iPhone isn't good enough. People will still buy the iPhone. It has to be *better*, and nobody as of yet seems to have the industrial [hardware|software] design to best the iPhone (other than perhaps Sony, and still, they bumble.)
Member since:2005-07-07
I disagree - being significantly cheaper but not significantly worse would be enough for most. It should also worry Apple that Google have a significantly better set of services than them, iTunes Store aside, and the capability to build new things and integrate them straight into Android.
Member since:2008-02-26
It looks like it's gonna be selling much more than the iPhone in Japan; or at least that's what analysts say.
That the iPhone lacks lots of functionality common in Japanese phones and that it doesn't have keys to complement the touchscreen are pointed at as the reasons for its underwhelming adoption.
On the other hand, when questioned about the new Google model, people seemed to rather having streetview and a keyboard than a slightly slimmer iPhone.
Member since:
2006-01-10
I figure at the moment it only has to be 'as good' as the iPhone hardware wise. It is only first generation. I think I'm going to wait until my current phone's contract is up and hopefully by then the second generation ones will be out with higher resolution, better / different style etc.
I've only owned my RAZR2 V8 since February and with the mods, it's pretty sweet. But it definitely would be nice to have full 3G, etc.