Details of the first mobile phone to use Google's Android software have been released - The G1 handset will be available in the UK in time for Christmas from T-Mobile. It will be available on contracts over £40 a month and includes unlimited net browsing. The G1 is wi-fi and 3G enabled and has built-in support for YouTube.
The G1 has been released as a competitor to Apple’s successful iPhone. Sadly the G1 cannot compete with the iPhone when it comes to streaming media. The G1’software doesn’t support Adobe’s Flash or Apple’s QuickTime. Google did develop the aforementioned special interface so the phone can play videos from Google’s YouTube service. However, Google have announced the “Open Handset Alliance” which is a group of more than 30 firms that will work together to make phone software easier to work with, including amongst others HTC, Motorola, Intel and Qualcomm.
The Open Handset Alliance has been formed to ensure developers of phone software can access the core elements of Android software to help them develop and create better applications – hopefully this will lead to support for popular streaming formats. It seems that we’re witnessing the birth of handsets that will eventually be able to offer all the capabilities of our desktop PCs. Oh, and you just might be able to make a call on them too….
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