[Photo via Gadget Lab]
Today, T-Mobile held a press conference to introduce the world to the first Google phone. G1, the iPhone's newest challenger for smartphone supremacy, will go on sale for $179 on October 22nd. And while it's certainly cooler than a lot of cells on the market, how does it match up with the iPhone? For one thing, it's not as slick looking: G1 is a slider with a touchscreen and a physical keyboard, which means it's thicker and bulkier than its competitor. Also, G1 is made entirely out of plastic—certainly not as snazzy as the glassy iPhone. A positive: G1 will have it's own Android (the phone's operating software) apps store, where developers can upload and sell their programs for free, while Apple charges a fee to upload and takes a cut of each app sale. Gizmodo's already weighed in on some of the phone's other drawbacks; we're sure everyone else will have the gadget's pluses and minuses sorted out by the end of the day.
· The new T-Mobile G1 with Google cell phone [Official Site]
· G1 Android phone coming October 22 for $179 [Boing Boing Gadgets]
· Photo Gallery: G1 Android Phone Up Close and Personal [Gadget Lab]
· Google and T-Mobile Introduce Phone With PC Features [NYT]
