T-Mobile Android Phone Out Today, Comes With Free Gmail

T-Mobile, the country's fourth largest cell service provider, will unveil today the G1, the first mobile phone to feature Google's Android operating system. The much-anticipated device, which would be iPhone's main competitor, is now said to come with free Gmail access, targeting Blackberry users.

In a bid to sell around 400,000 Android phones by the end of the year (that would equate to 4 percent of the smartphones sold in this period) T-Mobile is said to plan on offering free Gmail access, without the need for a data plan. In contrast, Blackberry's e-mail services costs an additional $15 a month on top of the call plan. On the downside, if indeed Gmail access will be free on the G1, T-Mobile might lose many of its Blackberry users who will most likely trade in their older phones.

The G1, manufactured by Taiwanese company HTC is one of the most anticipated phones since the launch of the iPhone. G1 will be out in October and will reportedly cost $199 with a two-year contract. Free access to Gmail would be a great crowd-puller for T-Mobile but it is most likely to have additional fees for other features of the phone that will require an Internet connection, like the full HTML Web browser or the assisted GPS Google Maps.

At a glance, G1 features a large touchscreen display with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, a 3-megapixel camera, 3G antenna and Wi-Fi. Even though Google's phone does not look and feel as stylish as Apple's iPhone, it has many chances to capture the hearts of users as the Android OS is open-source (anyone with the right knowledge can create apps for the phone), unlike iPhone, for which Apple strictly controls which apps are available to users.

Also, the G1 is only the first phone to come in a series of Android powered devices. Motorola, LG and Samsung are expected to launch Android phone next year, the devices looking vastly different. All the details on G1 are to come today after 10.30 ET, so stay tuned.

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