Google’s G1 mobile phone hits the street
British gadget fans will be able to get their hands on the first mobile phone powered by Google today, as the much-anticipated G1 goes on sale in the UK for the first time.
The G1, which is being sold by the phone network T-Mobile, will be available from the company’s shops from as early as 7am – with thousands of people expected to queue in order be among the first buyers.
A T-Mobile spokeswoman told the Guardian that the company was not sure how great demand would be today, but said 25,000 people had registered their interest since the phone was unveiled in New York last month.
The G1 comes free with a £40-a-month contract and boasts a number of high-end features including global satellite positioning, wireless internet access and built-in support for a number of Google applications.
It is the internet giant’s backing which has generated most interest, as the California company attempts to move into the lucrative mobile phone market and take on rivals such as Nokia, BlackBerry and Microsoft. But the G1’s major competition looks set to be Apple’s iPhone.
The launch represents a big gamble for Google, which has only recently started producing full-blown software rather than internet-based applications. But engineers based in California and London have been working on the phone system, called Android, for the past three years, and the company hopes that a number of manufacturers will sign up to use its software. Wider take-up will have to wait until next year, though, since T-Mobile has negotiated an exclusive 12-month deal to run Android on its phones.
Despite the excitement over the launch, reaction to the G1 so far has been mixed. Leading gadget blog Gizmodo said that it was not the finished article but represented “a good start”, while technology review site CNET called it “weird”‚ and said it was “not quite there yet”.
In the US, where the handset went on sale yesterday, retailers are already starting to slash the G1’s price to boost sales.
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