T-Mobile unveils the G1, the first Android OS powered smartphone

Today at a press event in New York, T-Mobile, along with HTC and Google, announced the official unveiling of the T-Mobile G1, the first Android OS(INFO) based smartphone to hit the market. The G1 is a 3G capable phone that was manufactured by HTC and has been until now primarily known by its code name, the HTC Dream.

The T-Mobile G1 sports a large touchscreen display that is similar to that found on the Apple iPhone, though it is slightly larger in size, at 3.17" across the diagonal, and offers a full 65k HVGA (480x320 pixel) resolution. Since the display makes use of capacitive touchscreen(INFO) technology, it can be activated by very light touches, something that all of HTC's Windows Mobile smartphones have been, thus far, unable to claim. When the device is held horizontally and the display is slid up, the G1's full QWERTY keyboard is revealed in a way that many T-Mobile Sidekick users will appreciate.

The keyboard on the T-Mobile G1 is very spacious, offering 5 full rows of keys in a very traditional layout that most everybody should be familiar with. Another Sidekick like touch is the G1's trackball, which eases one-handed navigation chores. The trackball is flanked by call send and home keys on its left and back and call end keys on the right. A dedicated menu key sits directly above the trackball.

In terms of functionality, the T-Mobile G1 offers most everything that people would expect to find on a smartphone today: email, calendar, web browsing, and, not surprisingly, the full suite of Google Mobile applications, including tight integration with Google Maps. T-Mobile and Google plan to make many additional applications available for the device, as well, thanks to their application stores. Other features of note include a 3 megapixel camera as well as a built-in GPS receiver for navigation.

The T-Mobile G1 is a quad-band GSM/EDGE smartphone that also supports 3G on T-Mobile's new 1700MHz UMTS network as well as the 2100MHz UMTS networks used in Europe. WiFi is also available for times when more speed is needed. The T-Mobile G1 is expected to go on sale on October 22nd for US$179, though it will be available for pre-order for existing T-Mobile customers today. The phone will require either a $25 400 text message, unlimited data plan, or a $35 unlimited text and data plan. Any voice plan can be used with the G1, however.
Specifications for the T-Mobile G1
Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz, UMTS 1700/2100MHz
Data GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA/WiFi
Size 117mm x 55mm x 15mm (4.6" x 2.2" x 0.6")
Weight 159g (5.6oz)
Battery Life Up to 5.4 days standby
Up to 5 hours talk time
Main Display 3.17" 65k color HVGA (480x320 pixel) touchscreen display
Camera 3 megapixel
Video No
Messaging MMS/SMS/IM
Email POP3/IMAP
Bluetooth Yes
Memory 256MB RAM, microSD card slot (up to 8GB)
Availability October 2008 (manufacturer's estimate)
Other HTML web browsing, GPS, QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, music player, YouTube app