T-Mobile launches G1 with Google

World's first Android phone is finally official

23 September 2008 15:48 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

T-Mobile has unveiled the T-Mobile G1 – the first phone to run on Android, Google's open source mobile phone software platform - that will be available exclusively from T-Mobile in the UK in November this year.

The T-Mobile G1 has full touch-screen functionality and a QWERTY keyboard. It's specially optimised for accessing the internet on your phone, in the words of HTC's Peter Chou, offering an "internet experience that people can use and enjoy."

The T-Mobile G1 is also the first phone to provide access to Android Market, where, like the App Store for the iPhone, "customers can find and download unique applications to expand and further customise their phone to fit their lifestyle."

The T-Mobile G1 is described as a premium, easy-to-use device with email, IM and mobile messaging capabilities. As another option for accessing the device, the T-Mobile G1 has a trackball for what's claimed to be more precise, one-handed navigation.

There's one-click contextual search, a full HTML internet browser with tap to zoom, built-in support 3G (HSDPA) network as well as Wi-Fi, with the ability to "seamlessly" transfer between 3G and accessible Wi-Fi networks.

Described as "nimble and powerful" by Chou, the G1 is complete with Google Maps including a compass mode, gets a rich HTML email client, which syncs your email, calendar and contacts from Gmail as well as most other POP3 or IMAP mail services and it offers a 3-megapixel camera with photo-sharing capabilities.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, appearing at the New York launch event said: "As a computer geek I'm excited to have a phone I can play with and modify."

In the UK, the T-Mobile G1 will be available in white and black for free on price plans from £40 a month, which the company says will include unlimited mobile internet browsing. In the States the handset will cost $179, $20 less than the 8GB iPhone.

T-Mobile customers can register for more details at www.t-mobile.co.uk/tmobileg1.