The Google Android Lands

As promised, Google and T-Mobile have lifted the curtains on the new G1 (formerly the HTC Dream) -- the first Android-based phone to hit the markets. Yesterday, we reported on some of the specs of the G1 and they turned out to be correct; scroll to the end of this story to see the complete and official specs of this handset.

As expected, the phone was officially unveiled at about 8:20 pm IST on 23rd September.

There were ticking clocks, bated breaths, and rollerblading founders galore. You read that right -- Larry Page and Sergey Brin turned up unannounced about 45 minutes into the presentation. On rollerblades. Neither fell. But we digress.

Those who are still unaware about the G1 and wondering what the fuss surrounding it is all about, here's a refresher: The G1 is the first phone to be based on the brand new Android platform. The Android platfom is nothing but an open source operating system built around the webkit rendering engine. HTC, T-Mobile and Google have been working on the G1 for close to three years. The culmination of those years is what we now know as the G1.

An iPhone killer?

Not yet, not quite. There have been quite a few contenders for the 'iPhone Killer' title. These include the likes of the HTC Touch Diamond, the Samsung Omnia and more recently, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. None of them have been able to knock the iPhone off its perch, so far. Will the G1 be any different?

The good news is that the G1 offers nearly everything that the iPhone does, or better--GPS, 3G, WiFi, touchscreen (though the G1 only supports single touch), and a 3.1-megapixel camera. The screen slides out to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard, and you can use the trackball to navigate the interface as well. The operating system seems slick, but clearly doesn't have the oomph of the iPhone. Obviously, it's tightly integrated with Google apps such as Gmail, Maps and YouTube, but even though you can watch streaming video, the phone doesn't support any other form of video. Also lacking is Microsoft Exchange server support; nor can the phone be synced to Outlook or any PC-based contacts program.