Sign up for the FREE Tell Membership and receive benefits that include the digital edition of Tell Magazine sent straight to your inbox, product giveaways, coupons and much more!
Sign up for the FREE Tell Membership and receive benefits that include the digital edition of Tell Magazine sent straight to your inbox, product giveaways, coupons and much more!
After more than a year of rumors of a “Google Phone” and what it could possibly entail, the Google-branded Android operating system finally became a reality Tuesday, with the introduction of the G1.
The smart phone, the first to use Google’s Android operating system, was introduced at a press conference in New York by executives of Google, T-Mobile and HTC, and will reach stores in October. It is set to cost $179 with a two-year contract, plus a data package costing $25 per month on top of calling fees.
The phone sports an iPhone-like touchscreen, as well as a slide-out keyboard reminiscent of LG’s Voyager phone. It also provides easy access to Google-branded applications such as Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube and Google Street View. There will also be an App Store-like store called Android Market.
The G1, with hardware from HTC, is the first phone to come out of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium formed nearly a year ago by Google along with T-Mobile, Sprint, HTC, Motorola, Qualcomm, LG and various other industry heavyweights. The Android operating system is open to third-party developers.
The G1 will be available from T-Mobile stores in markets where the provider offers 3G services; it will also be available for online ordering in some areas.
Related Posts