Google phone to cost $179, will go on sale Oct. 22

Google likes to talk about organizing the world's information and making it accessible everywhere. On Tuesday, the Internet giant took a step toward fulfilling that mission with the long-awaited debut of the first mobile phone to use its software known as Android.The phone, which will go on sale at T-Mobile on Oct. 22 for $179 — $20 less than the iPhone — closely resembles a T-Mobile Sidekick, with a big screen and a keyboard that slides out from underneath and contains an extra key dedicated to Internet search. The device also has WiFi capability and GPS built in.
But what is special about the device is that it is designed to function as a full-fledged personal computer running any kind of application a developer can dream up."It's just very exciting for me as a computer geek to be able to have a phone that I can play with and modify and innovate upon just like I have with computers in the past," Google co-founder Sergey Brin said at a news conference Tuesday in New York. Brin joked that the first application he wrote took advantage of the phone's accelerometer and measured how long it took for him to catch the phone, or for it to hit the ground, after it was thrown up in the air.Andy Rubin, Google's senior director of mobile platforms, said the source code for the phone would be released on the Internet as soon as the phone goes on sale. Though the software is basically complete, Rubin said Google will continue Advertisement to add features and functionality and that third-party developers would also be able to contribute changes. "It is future-proof because it has openness built in," Rubin said.The G1 comes with maps, e-mail and instant messaging, a music player and a camera. Users can also download applications that measure their carbon footprint or scan barcodes in a store so they can comparison-shop on the Internet.
Ten years from now the end result will be powerful devices that are tailored to the personal preferences of their owners. "Your phone will be smart about your situation and alert you when something needs your attention," Rubin wrote in a blog post last week as he prepared for the launch."I think people will be happier with the G1 than they are with the iPhone," said John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer of Wind River, which is working with manufacturers to adapt Google's code to new phones and other devices."Plain and simple, I will be able to get more applications more easily from a broader set of options.''Apple has shown that ordinary people are eager to experiment with games and productivity applications that run on a mobile device. Since it launched its App Store in July, users have downloaded more than 100 million applications for the iPhone and the iPod touch.
There are more than 3,000 iPhone applications available — but that is a fraction of the 200,000 submitted to Apple. The Android Market will theoretically be more open to developers."If it can truly be that anyone can publish whatever they want, that's a paradigm change in itself," said Gerry Purdy, chief analyst for Frost & Sullivan. Purdy acknowledged that the new phone's security will be a major issue.
Tim Westergren, chief strategy officer of Pandora, a popular music discovery service, said he is "most definitely" considering developing an application for Android. Pandora is one of the top apps offered in the iPhone store.Cole Brodman, T-Mobile's chief technology officer, said the G1 will be advertised through "the biggest marketing campaign we've ever launched for a mobile device."Brodman said T-Mobile also announced two new plans: It will cost $25 a month for unlimited Web searching and $35 a month for unlimited Web searching and messaging. Using the phone to talk will cost extra. Similar to the iPhone, the G1 will not be able to be used as a modem for a personal computer.The phone will be able to run on T-Mobile's new 3G network, which is in the process of being installed throughout the country. Brodman said the new network, which is much faster, will be available in 22 markets by October.T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, Google and HTC, which manufactured the phone, are hoping the G1 will have the same mass appeal as the iPhone, but at a lower cost.Google intends for this to be the first of many so-called "gPhones," making its Android software as ubiquitous as Microsoft's operating system. The next gPhone is expected from Sprint Nextel.Still, it's not clear that Google will be successful. Jake Seid, managing director of Lightspeed Venture Partners, noted that the idea of a standard technology platform has been tried multiple times in the past. In 1998, mobile industry leaders tried to come together around the Symbian operating system, partly out of concern that Microsoft would come to dominate mobile devices the same way it dominated personal computers.Seid said such efforts face a common challenge in keeping a uniform code base."Being open doesn't matter," he said. "If you look at what has been successful, it has been end-to-end control."
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