Google's first phone hits stores today

By Staff and wire reports

Last update: October 22, 2008 - 5:31 AM

Google is jumping into the mobile phone business with its new G1 phone.

The new gadget features a touch screen, slide-out keyboard and a trackball.

This alternative to Apple's iPhone is the first cell phone powered by Google's Android operating system.

The G1 is available starting today for $179 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile.

The new phone has raised consumer expectations that it could be the next must-have gadget.

New York-based ABI Research says Google's intention is to greatly expand the market for smart phones, which today account for only 14 percent of all cell phones sold worldwide.

Smart phones are in many ways handheld computers, and putting more of them in the hands of consumers could change the way people use the Internet. T-Mobile is aiming the G1 strictly at consumers. That sets it apart from the iPhone, a consumer device that's moving into the business market, and the BlackBerry, a business phone that's moving into the consumer market.

The $179.99 G1 (not including cell plan) costs about the same as a $199 to $299 iPhone 3G or the current high-end $150 BlackBerry phone (the new touch-screen BlackBerry Storm, and its price, won't be available until later this year.)

The G1 has a lot of features consumers have come to expect from smart phones: Internet browsing (at the fastest 3G cell phone speeds), YouTube video, e-mail, text messaging, online searching, interactive maps and playing or downloading music. It's also got the expected extras, such as a good camera, keyboard and user interface. New G1 owners must sign up for a two-year T-Mobile agreement and take one of the mandatory data packages costing $25 or $35 a month on top of paying for a regular T-Mobile calling plan.

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