Google Phone

(Newser) - Designers are hard at work on technologies for tomorrow’s cell phones, Priya Ganapati writes for Wired , with more functional touchscreens, developing voice recognition that learns, and typepad software with fewer typos. In 5 years, Ganapati writes, “your phone will be a smooth, sleek brick—a piece of metal and plastic with a few grooves in it and little more.” More »

(Newser) - With Google’s G1 smartphone making this week’s big tech splash, Katherine Boehret, in the Wall Street Journal , takes a look at some of the applications on offer, finding them “useful, entertaining, and mostly straightforward.” Of those she tested from the Android Market, “the G1's apps are more utilitarian than most apps I've tested for Apple's iPhone—and not quite as visually pleasing.” More »

(Newser) - Google’s release of the code for its Android operating system today—a day before the G1 phone hits stores—paves the path for transformation of the cell-phone industry and beyond, Om Malik writes on GigaOm. As coders enhance Android and develop add-ons, either for existing devices or new ones, consumers will benefit from increased choice and cheaper, faster phones, Malik writes. More »

(Newser) - Google's upcoming G1 is the first real rival to the iPhone, but the different gadgets "are likely to attract different types of users," Walt Mossberg writes in the Wall Street Journal . Making phone calls was a lot easier on the G1, which worked great with Google services, Mossberg found in extensive testing. But the long-awaited new toy was a distant runner-up as a multimedia device. More »

(Newser) - The long-anticipated Google phone debuts today, and it’s “not just another iPhone clone,” Anita Hamilton writes in Time . The $179 HTC Dream from T-Mobile is the first handheld to run Android, Google’s mobile platform offering 3G connectivity and a similar application-driven interface. But the Dream offers both a touch-screen and a physical keyboard, and offers the flexibility of running more than one application at once. More »

(Newser) - The first cell phone loaded with Google’s “Android” software will cost $199, the Wall Street Journal reports. Partner T-Mobile hopes the low-priced handset and data services, due out next month, will attract mass market consumers, not just geeky early adopters. Competitors Apple and AT&T priced their “3G” iPhone at $200 this summer, and Samsung and Sprint Nextel’s Instinct costs even less, at  $129. More »

(Newser) - Google’s hyped Android phone will make its debut next week in New York, the Los Angeles Times reports. Google and T-Mobile—the gadget's first carrier—plan a press conference  to show off the handset, a new rival for the iPhone and Blackberry. The "G1” won’t go on sale until October, but pricing details are expected at Tuesday's press conference. More »

(Newser) - Google’s long-rumored Android-powered smartphone could have customers surfing the Web and chatting by as early as October, the New York Times reports. The gadget, the product of a partnership between T-Mobile and HTC, is expected to challenge Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones that offer PC-like functions as well as voice service. More »

(Newser) - It turns out revolutionizing the mobile-phone industry isn’t as easy as Google thought it would be. The first phones to bear the search giant’s much-anticipated Android platform won’t ship until the fourth quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports, because carriers are having trouble customizing the software. Many despair of having Android offerings at all in 2008. More »