Mobile service provider T- Mobile on Tuesday launched the first cell phone powered by a operating system development by Internet giant Google in the United States, and the companies expect to sell at least 200,000 of the handset by the year end.
The G1 smart phone, which mimic many of the features of Apple's popular iPhone, features a touch screen and a fold out keyboard. The device will be available for customers exclusively through T- Mobile in the United States from October, the companies said.
The device will be the first Google phone available in the market after Google announced last year to develop an open-source operation system called Android for wireless devices that could encourage new application development.
"With Android, we've opened the mobile Web not only for millions of users, but also to mobilize the developer community that understands the next most important platform in the world rests in the palm of our hand," said Andy Rubin, Google's senior director of mobile platforms, in a statement.
T-Mobile is expected to charge customers 179 U.S. dollars for a G1 handset with a two-year contract, or 20 dollars less than the iPhone, in an effort to lure new customers and compete with the popular Apple product.
T-Mobile, which is owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG, said it will launch the device in Britain in November and in other European markets early next year. Industry analysts estimate that as many as 9 million units of G1 phone would be sold globally for next year.
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