Google phone taking on iPhone

The T-mobile device, to be available in the Twin Cities area, includes a trackball and access to e-mail and mapping.

Last update: September 24, 2008 - 7:51 AM

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NEW YORK - The first phone that harnesses Google Incorporated's ambition to make the Internet easy to use on the go was revealed Tuesday, and it looks a lot like an iPhone.

T-Mobile USA showed off the G1, a phone that, like Apple Incorporated's iPhone, has a large touch screen. But it also packs a trackball, a slide-out keyboard and easy access to Google's e-mail and mapping programs.

T-Mobile said it'll begin selling the G1 for $179 with a two-year contract. The device hits U.S. stores Oct. 22, Britain in November and other European countries early next year.

The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores only in the U.S. cities where the company has rolled out its faster, third-generation wireless data network. By launch, that will be 21 metropolitan areas, including the Twin Cities, New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami.

In other areas, people will be able to buy the phone from T-Mobile's website. The phone does work on T-Mobile's slower data network, but it's optimized for the faster networks. It can also connect at Wi-Fi hotspots.

The data plan for the phone will cost $25 per month on top of the calling service, at the low end of the range for U.S. wireless carriers. At $179, the G1 is $20 less than the least expensive iPhone in the United States.

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