5:25 PM, September 16, 2008
For those of you who have been anticipating the so-called Google Phone as if it were the next iPhone, the wait is almost over.
Google T-Mobile USA said today that it would unveil the much-anticipated mobile phone loaded with Google's Android software next Tuesday at a press conference in New York. The "G1," which is being manufactured by HTC, won't go on sale until October. But expect T-Mobile to finally divulge some key details such as pricing.
T-Mobile is just the first carrier to market the phone. Other cellphone manufacturers and carriers are expected to dial for dollars using the Google brand as bait, but they apparently have hit some snags. The Android phone is being positioned as a rival to Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
For Google, this seems like a no-lose proposition. The Internet search giant wants to make sure that all of its services, including its lucrative advertising, are available on all cellphones. So it created software for mobile phones that does that.
Pundits have been saying for years that the mobile Web will dwarf the non-mobile Web once enough people have access to so-called smartphones and all of the bells and whistles that come with them. Already Google is readying a store for downloadable mobile software similar to the one that has proven so successful for the iPhone.
Google showed off the handset at a developer conference in London this morning.
Next week, Google and T-Mobile should start to reveal whether Android will live up to the hype.
-- Jessica Guynn
