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hbgator

Tue 23 Sep, 2008


Google phone to cost $179, debut Oct. 22

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NEW YORK <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>(AP)<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>-<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> The first cell phone running Google Inc.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>'s mobile software looks something like Apple Inc.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>'s iPhone and has a large touch screen,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> but it also packs a trackball,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> a slide-out keyboard and easy access to Google's e-mail and mapping programs.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Google made its debut as a cell phone software provider Tuesday at an event where wireless carrier T-Mobile said it will begin selling the G1 phone for <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>$179 with a two-year contract.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> The device hits U.S.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> stores Oct.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> 22 and heads to Britain in November and other European countries early next year.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores only in the U.S.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> cities where the company has rolled out its faster,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> third-generation wireless data network.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> By launch,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> that will be 21 cities,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> including New York,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Los Angeles,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Houston and Miami.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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In other areas,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> people will be able to buy the phone from T-Mobile's Web site.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> The phone does work on T-Mobile's slower data network,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> but it's optimized for the faster networks.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> It can also connect at Wi-Fi hotspots.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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The data plan for the phone will cost <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>$25 per month on top of the calling service,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> at the low end of the range for data plans at U.S.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> wireless carriers.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> And at <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>$179,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the G1 is <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>$20 less than the least expensive iPhone in the U.S.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Sergey Brin and Larry Page,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Google's founders,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> made a surprise appearance at the launch event.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"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,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Brin said.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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He said he'd written an application for Android already:<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> When a user throws the phone into the air,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the program records how long it takes until it lands,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> using the phone's built-in motion sensor.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Brin acknowledged that the wisdom of including such a program with an expensive phone is dubious.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"We did not include that one by default,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> he said.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Page said the mobile phone industry,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> which sells 1 billion units a year worldwide,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> was a tremendous opportunity for Google.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Google is giving away Android,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the software that underlies the G1,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> for free,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> and opening the operating system to third-party developers who can create their own programs.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Google hopes that in turn,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> mobile phones will provide even more ways for people to interact with the company's advertising network