After almost a year of speculation, the first Google Android-enable mobile phone has been unveiled in New York. The T-Mobile G1 handset, which will be the first mobile phone to use Google's open source Android software, aims to make it easier for mobile users to access the internet on the go.Speaking at yesterday's launch, Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer for T-Mobile USA, said: "We haven't been able to rely on the integration of the Internet and mobile phone to bring us together. We're here to change that."
Google founder Larry Page added: "This is as good a computer as you had a few years ago in this phone. When you think about that in terms of access to the internet, being able to really use the web... that's a tremendous opportunity."
The basic features of the mobile phone - which was manufactured by HTC - have been widely acknowledged by mobile industry commentators for some months. The G1 will sport a touch screen and QWERTY keyboard - an amalgamation of the main features of its two closest rivals in the smartphone market: RIM's BlackBerry and the Apple iPhone.
However, the G1 mobile handset will also feature integrated Wi-Fi and a full HTML browser, enabling easy access to popular Google applications like Gmail, Google Maps and - of course - its basic Google search function.
And, just as iPhone users are able to download songs onto their handset via iTunes, G1 phone users will be able to download DRM-free tracks remotely over Wi-Fi from Amazon.com. Commenting on Amazon's contribution to the G1 phone, Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley told the AFP:
"Amazon arguably has the best DRM-free music service out there and it is a coup that Google got them. It is very aggressive. They are seriously targeting Apple. They want to break that monopoly Apple has with iTunes."
While the G1 may be receiving worldwide plaudits, it's clear that it's not going to be easy breaking into the already overcrowded smartphone market. After all, while many people see the BlackBerry and the iPhone as the G1's main rivals, it's important to remember that Nokia is the world's most popular smartphone manufacturer. And in the face of Nokia's new Comes with Music service - which offers users free music tracks for a year - the inclusion of Amazon on its list of features is sure to provide it with a much needed edge. What's more, Google's Android software itself faces stiff competition from market leader Symbian, which was acquired by Nokia earlier this year and made free for mobile phone developers.
Evidently, Android is symptomatic of Google's desire to not just provide applications but also provide the medium in which they are used. The recent release of Google Chrome, for instance, attempts to ensure that users not only use Google search but that they use it on the company's own browser. Similarly, Android aims to bridge the gap between people using Google Mobile Search on their Nokia handset by allowing people to search on the Google mobile platform itself.
G1 is scheduled for release on October 22 in the USA, with the UK release date to follow in November. However, it will by no means be the only Google Android-enabled handset - a range of other devices are in the pipeline and, when these are released, predictions over Android's success rate will be in a position to be much more accurate.
