There will be no shortage of excitement on Tuesday when T-Mobile unveils the first phone powered by Google’s Android operating system. But “the event” is likely only the start of a long effort to “rewrite the rules of the mobile communications industry.”
The phone, which has been described as “stout,” is a model called Dream built by HTC. According to estimates, the new phone is expected to cost about $200 directly from T-Mobile and go on sale in October. Until other partners in the Google-spawned, 34-member Open Handset Alliance bring their Android products to market, this small piece of electronics will “shoulder a lot of ambitions. ”
For business at T-Mobile, this Android phone will likely bring some much needed buzz to the carrier, helping match what AT&T got from Apple’s iPhone. It may also persuade customers to believe that T-Mobile’s new 3G network is worth paying for.
The only element of this development that isn’t entirely clear yet is just how well Android phones will perform in the marketplace. Google’s software is untested, and, needless to say, there is no shortage of competitors in the mobile phone market.
T-Mobile’s experiment in android begins tomorrow. And only time will tell where we will go from there.
