New Google Android Phone by T-Mobile

Another hi-tech splash was made today as T-Mobile unveiled the first Google Android platform-based phone.

T-Mobile showed off its new G1 mobile phone at a press event in New York Tuesday, thus becoming the first carrier to offer a device run on Google’s Android open source mobile platform.

The device, which was developed by device manufacturer HTC, has many of the features commonly seen on many of smartphones on the market, including a touchscreen with drop-and-drag capabilities, a pull-out QWERTY keyboard, and a host of Web-based applications for maps, music and instant messaging.

But the big reason that the phone has generated buzz in recent weeks is because it will be the first ever to run on Android, a Linux-based open source mobile platform that Google first debuted last November. Google has long said that the goal of the platform would be to spur innovation within the mobile development community and also to give users the ability to switch to new carriers without switching their mobile devices.

Interestingly, the G1 will not let users connect to other Android-supporting networks, as anyone who purchases the device will have to sign a two-year voice and data agreement as a precondition. Andy Rubin, Google’s senior director for mobile platforms, said that the T-Mobile G1 was still an important development because it would open mobile networks to support new and innovative applications created by third-party developers.

But it is the unflinching openness of the system that Android brings to the table, and here is where things get tricky. Google may want to spread the gospel of openness, but the telcos sticking this platform in their phones want cash money.

Tagged as: Android open source mobile platform, G-Phone, G1 phone, Google Android, Google Android Phone, Google Phone, T-Mobile Android, T-Mobile Android phone, T-Mobile g-phone, T-Mobile phone, TMobile Android