Google's Android = T-Mobile G1

Today, HTC's Dream mobile phone got unveiled as the T-Mobile G1 (what a name...?!). Why the spotlight? Well, it's the first commercial mobile using Google's open platform called Android which is expected to make waves in the mobile phone world.

Since Apple launched the iPhone there's been nothing that's fresh and new to challenge it. The Koreans have produced some nice distractions like the LG Glide, Samsung Instinct. Blackberry has got its Bold coming out in the US soon after launching in Europe, but that's just a UI revamp. Palm has nothing until late 2009 when its Nova OS gets revealed. And Symbian and Microsoft seem noticably absent. That Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 doesn't look like it'll do anything with its animated top menu.

So, folks are hoping that Google can drive phone manufacturers and software developers to go wild with Android. Being open platform means that the OS will cost less, be developed quicker by the community and generally build a ground swell of support. Or so the theory goes.

The announcement of Android in November 2007 was enough to accelerate Symbian/Nokia's plan to make itself open source 7 months later in June 2008.