T-Mobile today has finally confirmed details of the T-Mobile G2. The biggest surprise of the announcment is the G2 is the next officially sanctioned Google phone and replaces Nexus One as the reference Android phone.
It runs a stock version of Android 2.2 and not only gets quicker Android updates but deeper access to Google; it supports VoiceActions out of the box and already has Google Voice built-in. The phone comes ready with Flash 10.1, and its only major customization is the inclusion of the Swype keyboard layer.
The G2 was already known to be the first HSPA+ phone an can connect to up to 14.4Mbps on T-mobiles 3 G network. Today T-Mobile also has revealed that the support is built into the processor itself: the 800MHz Snapdragon MSM7230 includes the fast cellular hardware. While slower than the 1GHz chips in other Android phones, it’s still considered fast enough to record 720p video.
“One of the advantages of an open platform is the opportunity for developers to create rich mobile experiences and seamlessly get those experiences into the hands of consumers,” said Andy Rubin, vice president, engineering, Google. “From new services, such as Voice Actions, to mobile applications, developer-led Android innovation is flourishing. On Android Market alone, the number of applications available to consumers has grown from just 50 applications two years ago to more than 80,000 applications today.”
“Two years ago, HTC and T-Mobile worked together to deliver the world’s first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1. From that start, Android has grown to be the leading smartphone platform in the U.S., and one of the most popular globally,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “With today’s announcement of the G2, HTC and T-Mobile are once again bringing a breakthrough Android product to market.
Coming two years after the G1, the design is a significant upgrade with a 3.7-inch touchscreen with multi-touch, an optical trackpad , a 3.5mm headphone jack and a five-megapixel camera. The HTC-made phone has just 4GB of internal memory, but T-Mobile ships an 8GB microSDHC card with.
T-Mobile still has yet to commit to an official ship date or price, but it will start taking “limited quantities” of pre-orders later this month. Leaks have pointed to it costing $199 on contract and $499 without, possibly launching on September 29.
