T-Mobile G1 with Google Android is Smartphone 2.0

The iPhone was just a precursor. Sure, it has a more elegant implementation of hardware and software working tightly together, and the touch interface will prove to be vastly superior to the T-Mobile G1, announced today and shipping on 10/22 for a fair $180. But where the iPhone drops the ball (open source smartphone software), the G1 picks it up, runs for a touchdown, and dances a little smartphone jig.

I've had a chance to test out the Android emulator extensively (it's available online at code.google.com/android) and can tell you that the OS is highly extensible and open-ended, meant for developers to pretty much have at it in terms of re-mapping buttons, exploiting hardware features such as GPS and Wi-Fi, and creating really inventive apps that trump the more commercial offerings on the iPhone.

So, what do you get out of the box on the G1? For starters, all Gmail access is free. (Some reports say Gmail itself is free, which is kind of obvious). It means you can access your e-mail without worrying about data connection fees. Gmail uses push technology so you don't have to click send-receive constantly, the mail just arrives automatically. The phone has a 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, a built-in Amazon MP3 store, YouTube feeds, and Google Maps. A mini-Street View mode (which shows photos of city streets in major cities) uses cell phone triangulation (there is no built-in GPS support) to find your location, similar to the original iPhone. There is a built-in compass that points north, which is sort of old school.

The big news is Android Market, a store with Web 2.0-like attributes where you can search for applets and a rating system to help you weed out the undesirables. It's also very Web 2.0 in that there is no desktop mode at all, and no desktop syncing. Everything you do, you do on the phone. Of course, the Google browser mirrors the ease of use to their recently released desktop equivalent, and there are all the typical contact, schedule, and mail applets included out of the box.