Over the past couple of weeks, there has been much ado about the launch of a new smartphone from Google, the first to run on the Android operating system, an open-source platform produced by the Open Handset Alliance.

Finally, the big day has arrived and the mobile phone, which is called the Dream, was unveiled. Not without further ado, since during the conference aimed at presenting the device, speeches were delivered by Cole Brodman, T-Mobile’s Chief Technology Officer, Christopher Schläffer from Deutsche Telekom, Andy Rubin, Director of Mobile Platforms at Google and Peter Chou, HTC’s Chief Executing Officer.

High Tech Computer (HTC) Corporation is an outsourcing company that is manufacturing the search giant’s portable device, while T-Mobile will be the G1’s first carrier throughout the United States.

After the recent leaks on the Internet about the smartphone’s features, which include free of charge Android Market apps, allowing applications to exchange data between them and the much expected cut-paste option concerning e-mails, it seemed to many that the official launch would not be sprinkled with surprises. Nevertheless, Apple Incorporated should take heed, because it looks like the iPhone is in for some competition that is not to be taken lightly. Google announced today that the Dream enables users to browse, preview and buy music on the Amazon MP3 store, via a Wi-Fi connection. The Amazon MP3 store will definitely go head-to-head with Apple’s mobile iTunes one.

Amazon digital music and video president Bill Carr stated that he was thrilled to offer customers their collection of Digital Rights Management-free music through the gadget’s built-in video and music store.

The G1 will support the Android Market, a mobile application in which third party developers can offer additional programs for the device.

It also features the Android operating system that had been developed by teams of Google engineers over the last three years. Android is an open source system than can be used and changed by any device manufacturer.

Google, which currently dominates advertising on the internet, hopes that with Android it will become the standard operating system for increasingly sophisticated mobile phones, which experts believe will provide the main access to the internet for billions of people without computers.

The G1 is priced at $179 dollars, $20 less than the iPhone, and will be available from October 22.

Its data plans are also far less than those available for the iPhone in the US, with an unlimited text and internet plan costing just $35, in addition to regular voice plans.

The G1 will be available in the UK in November and across Europe in the first quarter of 2009.