Google phone intrigues with features galore

The long-awaited Google phone was introduced recently as the G1, made by HTC. The phone, which uses Google’s Android operating system, costs $179 with a two-year T-Mobile contract. It sports a relatively large, 3.2-inch display, a slide-out full keyboard, built-in Wi-Fi, 3G support, and a 3-megapixel camera. The phone measures 4.6x2.2x0.6 inches; it weighs 5.6 ounces. The G1 was not available for testing at press time, but our initial hands-on examination found:

Big connections

The phone comes preloaded with a full Web browser and icons for launching, not surprisingly, Google Maps and YouTube. It can also be used to access Google Mail and other e-mail services. You can flag, delete, or move groups of messages and keep track of group conversations through threaded text messaging.

Innovative navigation

The built-in keyboard features two buttons that work with any program you have open. A “magnifying glass” key launches a Google search when you’re in the Web browser and starts a text search in a word-processing program. The “menu” button launches the main menu of an application you have open. You can maneuver on the page with a poke or swipe of your finger and select text with a trackball.

Applications galore

An internal compass, assisted by a global positioning system, aligns Google Maps with the surrounding terrain regardless of the phone’s position. The G1 has a promising application that turns the camera into a bar-code reader, allowing you to check prices and locations of products from store to store or on the Web. Other preloaded software includes AmazonMP3, Amazon.com’s digital music service that is claimed to have a catalog of 6 million songs, many of them costing less than the 99 cents usually charged by iTunes.

Bottom line

The first Google phone is loaded with intriguing features and capabilities, though some of those might be hampered by T-Mobile's especially sparse 3G coverage. The claimed talk time is an adequate 5 hours. For more information about the HTC G1 Google phone, see The Google phone, at last on our Electronics Blog.