What We Should Expect from Today’s T-Mobile Press Conference Announcing G Phone
by
on September 23, 2008,
Now that we only have a few hours left until the beginning of the press conference where T-Mobile will officially announce the first G Phone based on Google’s Android operating system manufactured by HTC, I wanted to briefly summarize a few things widely discussed in the blogosphere but not quite clear about the device yet. Hopefully we will receive answers to all the questions today and all the clarifications will be here as well.
Shipping date
Currently the rumored dates are either October 17 or October 20 - but everyone agrees that the first Android-based phones will hit T-Mobile stores some time in October. The first thing to expect from the conference is the official date when the device starts shipping. Chances are it will also be possible to order the phone in advance on the website but that can also be confirmed only at the press conference.
Pricing
It is quite obvious that price and data plan for Google’s phone is supposed to be competitive when compared to Apple iPhone. The most popular estimation is that HTC-manufactured G1 phone will cost $199 to users with 2-years contract and quite an affordable data plan. We should at least expect the device not to be more expensive than iPhone but the intrigue here is how exactly aggressively priced the data plan will be - this is what we should expect more details on and something T-Mobile could surprise us with as well.
Details on Google applications
It is already known that Android operating system will ensure easy access to the most important Google’s web applications but we still need details on what applications will run as default ones on Android. Right now the only applications mentioned are Gmail, YouTube, and Calendar but there is still some uncertainty about Google Talk availability on the device for now and I have not seen any mentions of Google Reader support yet - while to some people (like me) it is honestly much more useful than YouTube.
Free access to Gmail
There are rumors that T-Mobile will offer free access to Gmail without a need for data plan. In this way users will be able to access their Gmail accounts for free - which is a significant advantage when compared to $15 you pay per month to use your email on Blackberry with T-Mobile. Hopefully we will hear this rumor confirmed by T-Mobile at the press conference. Besides, I think it will be logical for Google to come to some kind of an agreement with T-Mobile (and other future carriers to sell Android-powered phones) to offer free access to all Google applications in exchange for a share in advertising revenue obtained with Android users - this will certainly be a revolutionary move and will make Android more of a Google’s phone than anything else could.
Browsing details
It is quite obvious that one of the most important functionalities for a Google’s phone will be internet browsing. We are yet to see what type of a browser the phone will support but it will be some version of the recently released Chrome browser. Hopefully the press conference will offer more details about the browser and how the mobile version compares to the desktop one.
Cut and paste for emails
Another intrigue is if Android will actually support cut and paste operations in emails unlike iPhone where the functionality is frustratingly missing. Hopefully this will be confirmed at the press conference as well (if not, it is not such a big deal but if yes, it will make the launched phone more competitive against Apple’s iPhone).
Details about Amazon application
The Amazon application rumored to be running on Android system is supposed to allow Android-powered devices to efficiently compete with iPhone in content by giving users a way to purchase DRM-free music from AmazonMP3 service. But the details here are insufficient and the most intriguing aspect is if this mobile Amazon application will allow users to purchase videos from Amazon’s Video On Demand service as well. If phones running Google’s Android allow users to buy movies and TV shows in addition to music only, this can be considered an additional competitive edge as well.
In the meanwhile everyone is invited to tune to the T-Mobile’s official website for G1 phone to watch the press conference in real time and see the specifications and all the details about the new phone as soon as the site is fully open (right now the only functionality you can access is the player to watch the press conference when it begins). The press conference is scheduled to start at 10.30 a.m. EDT.
