10:39 a.m. Cole Brodman, chief technology officer of T-Mobile USA has opened the event and introduced Christopher Scläffer, the group project and innovation officer of Deutsche Telekom.
He praises the partnership. He said T-Mobile International is committed to open platforms. "G1 is a milestone in bringing the open mobile Internet to the mass market," he said.
Andy Rubin, the senior director of mobile platforms for Google is speaking. Developers will be able to modify the platform and make it better. Calls the platform future proof because it has openness built in.
Peter Chou, the CEO of HTC, is now speaking. he says he is honored to be here. He congratulates all of the partners on the vision, strategy and execution of the G1. Today represents the culmination of the vision. He calls the design, "unique, iconic," and "unlike anything else in the market." He said it will appeal to a variety of people. He said the performance is "nimble, flexible and powerful" and says it is a fundamental shift in where and how people can share the Internet.
Brodman says the mobile Internet only has 16 percent penetration in the United states. He calls for open systems, open standards for a new user experience.
Click here to see pictures of the black and white version of the T-Mobile G1 handset...
10:15 a.m. Live from New York, it's...Tuesday morning!
Hello and welcome to FierceWireless's live coverage of the launch of the first mobile phone powered by Google's Android software--the HTC Dream. That was the working name up until this morning. The phone has now officially been dubbed the G1.
This joint press conference, hosted by T-Mobile USA--the phone's exclusive carrier in the United States--and Google has been highly anticipated in the wireless world for months. Every scrap of information about the launch, from its date, location, to the phone's specifications and price has been poured over the way fanboys dissect snippets of an upcoming Hollywood comic book extravaganza--think "The Dark Knight," except instead of Heath Ledger's performance, what is being obsessed over is Gmail's performance.
And now, after all of the months of baited breath, we're here. There is a lot of hype floating around the elegant venue on the far East Side of Manhattan. The tension and anticipation is palpable, and the setting almost surreal. Tuxedoed attendants stand around the edges, a neon pink light falls across the curtains and the main stage is set against a brick wall with an image of the 59th Street Bridge projected onto it. Two large LCD screens stand at the front, emblazoned with T-Mobile's logo, Google's logo and a huge "G1."
The gaggle of press, industry insiders and wireless watchers has assembled here to see if this phone will be what it has been heralded as: the next Big New Thing in wireless, and, above all else, the seemingly elusive and amorphous species known as an IPK--an iPhone Killer.
The touch screen device is meant to mimic many of the iPhone 3G's best attributes, while also forging its own identity. What is known for sure at this point is that it will have a full QWERTY keyboard and that it will run Google's signature applications, like its Gmail, Maps and Docs, as well other applications created by independent developers.
To say that Google and T-Mobile are betting a great deal on strong holiday sales of the device would be an understatement, and they have priced it at $199 with a T-Mobile service contract to help it directly compete with Apple's more established device. If the crowd is wowed and the general public responds over the next few months with the same fervor that marked the launch of the iPhone 3G in July, Google and T-Mobile will be seen as smart power players in the smartphone market. If, however, consumers balk at the phone's design, applications or interface and contribute to weak sales, the two companies will have the industry whispering, and maybe not that softly, about how their joint venture went bust. Over the next weeks and months that question will be decided.
But for now, sit back, relax (OK, maybe you won't relax) and enjoy the show.
Click here to see photo's from the event...
Click here to see images of the new phone...