T-Mobile, HTC and Google have launched the T-Mobile G1 phone, the first Google Android based device. The most important news that came out of the well expected US launch is that it will be available in the UK in November, which will only be a few weeks behind the US availability date.

The G1 is 4.6″ x 2.16″ x 0.63″, weighs 5.6 ounces, has a 480 x 320 display, 3G, GPS, a 3.1 megapixel camera, up to 8GB of memory (via a memory card), and has a claimed 5 hours of talktime with 130 hours of standby. However, it’s not all perfect; it doesn’t feature A2DP (Stereo Bluetooth), and doesn’t have video capabilities (although whether that will come with a future OS / firmware upgrade is not clear).  It supports built in applications for email (GMail and IMAP clients), IM, and maps, and will feature a version of the new Google Chrome browser.  Everything will sync automatically with push technology bringing new data direct to the device.

Another key story is that the Amazon MP3 Music Store application will be pre-installed on the device. Although Wi-Fi is required to download the music, you can browse the music store via T-Mobile.

T-Mobile have also stated they will not stop people unlocking their phones (as long as it remains only a minority of people performing the unlocking).  Tethering (ie using the phone as a modem for a laptop or iternet tablet) seems even less clear; T-Mobile have said that the phone doesn’t support it, but won’t be outlawed.

This is going to be a key device in the battle of the smartphones, and it will be interesting to see how Google develop the handsets and the OS over the next year to go head to head with Nokia (Symbian) and Apple.

The phone will be available in the UK in November, and across Europe in Q1 2009.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 10:00 am and is filed under Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.