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.
