First Google Android Phone from T-Mobile

T-Mobile is set to introduce the first mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software at a press conference in New York on Tuesday. The new smartphone, known as the HTC Dream Phone or G1, should be available to consumers by the end of October. Its debut will mark a turning point in both Google’s history (the announcement falls on the day Google celebrates its 10th birthday) and in the history of the Internet itself. The G1 phone might or might not be the device that moves a bulk of users to mobile but it does push the herd closer to migration. It also poses serious challenges to Apple’s iPhone and to Microsoft in general.

Google’s move into the mobile space is part of a collaborative effort. In November of last year, Google formed the Open Handset Alliance, ostensibly to promote open-source standards for mobile devices. T-Mobile and HTC along with 30 other firms with mobile interests including Motorola, Intel, Sprint Nextel, and Texas Instruments make up the Open Handset Alliance. (List of OHA members)

Google has spent the four years preparing to provide service on the mobile web. In July 2007 it purchased GrandCentral Communications, a service which allows users to bind their various phone numbers (home, office, voicemails, fax, etc…) to one meta-number and manage all calls online. A year earlier, Google acquired one of the largest office complexes in Manhattan when they moved to occupy three floors of a block-sized building in the Chelsea neighbourhood. That building happens to sit a top the largest global peerage point on the eastern seaboard, giving Google point-of-terminal access to one of the greatest connections of data-pipes anywhere. Since before 2004 Google was a strong supporter of the open-source movement, going as far as sponsoring and fostering the Mozilla Foundation, creators of the open-source browser Firefox.

In early September of this year, Google released its own web browser, Chrome. After the formation of the OHA, the release of Chrome was Google’s second enormous public step towards the mobile world. Its debut on the web showed Chrome was made for mobile. When I asked her for comment on Chrome, Android and Google’s intentions, industry mobile expert Cindy Krum said,

“Over all, the launch of Google Chrome went well, so it is no surprise that the launch of the first Android phone will happen only 5 weeks later. I believe Google was using Chrome to test a lot of elements that will go into the Android browser (Chrome Mobile?), most importantly the integration of the WebKit rendering engine.”

WebKit was developed as an open source application foundation by Apple to power its Safari web browser. Made open to other developers in June 2005, WebKit provides a solid foundation for other developers (such as Google and the OHA) to build on. Adopted by Nokia to power its handsets and adapted to allow many of the cool interactive features of the iPhone, WebKit is well liked by developers because browsers made with WebKit tend to read and render code better (and faster) than other mobile browsers making them easier to code for. It is also much smaller, code-wise so it requires less memory and CPU to run.

So what does the introduction of a G1, T-Mobile’s HTC Dream Phone mean for webmasters and Internet marketers? According to Cindy Krum,

“The WebKit, which is an open source browser that will control the core rendering in Googles mobile browser is also currently used by Nokia Symbian S60 phones and Mobile Safari, on the iPhone. This is also good news for mobile developers, as it indicates a distinct shift towards consolidation of mobile rendering standards. This consolidation should make mobile development much easier and eliminate some major barriers to entry for potential mobile marketers. It has yet to be seen if Google’s offerings on the T-Mobile Dream will rival the browsing experience on the iPhone, but I am hopeful.”

In the long run Google will provide or facilitate much of the content and revenue models that will make the G1 and subsequent Google phones attractive to both users and developers. Our first taste comes next Tuesday.