Top News

Consumers Protest Apple's Working Conditions

T-Mobile Offers Free 4G Phones for Valentine's Day

Sprint Comes Up Short on IPhone

Apple Not Improving Factory Conditions, Teen Worker Says

Hackers Get Greedy, Extorts Symantec

More News >

T-Mobile G2

The Bellevue, Wash.-based company said the G2, which is the follow-up to the G1, the first Android phone, is "tightly integrated" with Google's latest Android 2.2 software, such as "Voice Actions," which allows users to call contacts and businesses, send messages, browse the Web and listen to music with just the sound of their voice.

It's also the first smartphone to come with Google Voice, which can automatically transcribe voicemails to text, to read like an email or message. Additional Google services include Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps with Places and Navigation, YouTube, Google Talk and Google Earth.

"From new services, such as Voice Actions, to mobile applications, developer-led Android innovation is flourishing," said Andy Rubin, Google's vice president of engineering, Google. "One of the advantages of an open platform is the opportunity for developers to create rich mobile experiences and seamlessly get those experiences into the hands of consumers."

T-Mobile is touting the G2 as the first device to take advantage of its new HSPA-plus network, which is faster than regular 3G, for theoretical peak speeds of up to 14.4-megabits per second. Current devices offer rates of up to either 7.2-, or in some cases, 10.2-megabits per second.

"We are re-teaming with our partners at Google and HTC to provide customers with another first -- the first Android smartphone designed to deliver 4G speeds on our new network," said Cole Brodman, T-Mobile's chief technology officer."

While technically a 3.5G standard, HSPA-plus is an interm step used by T-Mobile and AT&T before switching over to "true" 4G. Sprint and Verizon have opted to directly jumped to 4G using Long-Term Evolution, or LTE.

The G2 comes with a 3.7-inch touch screen display and a unique "hinged" design that reveals a keyboard. Powered by an 800-megahertz Snapdragon processor, T-Mobile said the device offers improved performance, a longer battery life and enhanced multimedia and Web browsing. It also has a 5.0-megapixel camera with high-definition video recording and 4-gigabytes of memory with a pre-installed 8-gigabyte microSD card.

T-Mobile said the G2 will be available for pre-order later this month. Pricing details and an official launch date will be released at a later time.

"With today's announcement of the G2, HTC and T-Mobile are once again bringing a breakthrough Android product to market," said Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC, the manufacturer of the G2.

Earlier last week, reports surfaced that Sprint is considering whether to allow T-Mobile to invest in Clearwire, the network arm that is building out its nationwide 4G service. After struggling to retain customers, T-Mobile is looking for a 4G strategy to keep up with competition for data-hungry users.