San Franciso-based designers Mike and Maaike have designed the G1 phone for Google.
The phone is the first to use Google’s operating system Android, which the company hopes to make open-source.
The handset has a 3.2 inch touch screen and slide-out qwerty keyboard. It also incorporates a compass, which together with a motion sensor allows users to navigate Google Maps by turning the phone.
It is produced by Taiwanese manufacturers HTC and is available on T-Mobile.
The following is from Mike and Maaike:
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The G1 is the first phone to run on Google’s Android operating system.
Mike and Maaike worked with Google to envision a device that would run the open-source Android operating system, extending the functional utility, intelligence, and ease of the Google experience into a phone.
The device has been developed for production by HTC and is now offered by T-mobile as the G1.
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Posted by Matylda Krzykowski
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
doesn’t your iphone seem silly now?
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
no. definately not!
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:50 pm
definitively. i mean
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I dont know about that. This does not play music or video, pushing it into a different segment of the market.
It also lacks a lot of the desirability that the iphone is famous for.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
no. google’s failure to design a better phone makes the iphone that much cooler.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
ahhhh, nope.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:54 pm
this seems a bit late, doesnt it? considering the amount of press, advertisements, the fact that you can own this already, and there are a lot of blogs and videologs showing the actual device, usage, and operating system, it seems kinda goofy to show us glossy renders and unfinished description?
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:59 pm
it ain’t no iPhone, but i wish them well.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Has the cool factor but I still like my iPhone. Having said that I would like to own one.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I have to agree with how_odd. A little late. Running this story now is like a sitcom running a reunion episode all sitting around on the couch saying, “remember when…”. Also in many of the images i’ve seen of this phone it appears to have a poor build quality, the screen doesn’t line up parallel when it slides out. Such as here http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=google-t-mobile-launch-g1.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:58 pm
I mean, does this remind anyone ELSE of the Sottsas typewriter from ‘way back then’….
http://www.studio-international.co.uk/studio-images/sottsass/2b.asp
November 4th, 2008 at 3:15 am
I didn’t know who designed the G1… so this is welcome news.
It must have been a tough project with quite a lot of package and resource constraints. In that sense Mike & Maaike deserve all the credit for a really clean but distinctive product. Wish they ditched the rounded corner look though because that is “owned” by Apple…
November 4th, 2008 at 4:39 am
Another No…
November 4th, 2008 at 8:43 am
iphons attainable luxury, google wants to undercut this market so its made it’s phone cheaper and as a result not as beautiful (which i think the iphone really is even though i’m not a big mac fan). google will make more money flogging android and getting people on the net on their phones using their platform…
i wish there were more skype phones!
November 4th, 2008 at 10:51 am
… if anyone ‘owns’ the rounded corner, its Dieter Rams.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
iPhone S-U-C-K-S !!!!!!
November 4th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Yes Dieter Rams
November 4th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I think what it has is what google is famous for. No frills design with a focus on functionality. The phone is designed very much like the google search page. One can only hope that the functionality comes through as well on the G1 as it does on the Google search engine.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Yes All that,.. the design reminds me of 70’s work which I kind of like. Like MOMA collection…, no?
I imagine that Google doc and Google earth, maps and … all will be available here? Beides design, the spcification to the external appliances are so crucial to these electronics machines.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Well, they are available for download for iPhone user so it would be a slap in the face if this is not available to G1.
November 6th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I’ve never seen anything on Dezeen before which I actually own! I have a G1, and I like it very much. It’s not as beautiful as the iPhone, of course, but still quite handsome, and a pleasure to use; and the design has a few advantages, like the keyboard, and a removable battery.
Sam — the G1 plays both music and video (video from YouTube). Even if it didn’t, this is early days for Android, and I’ve been extremely impressed.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:26 am
This in a way proves that a nice clean glossy render is much more appealing – to the CEOs that decide on this final design.
And it seems to be the case for all the renders that appeared on this web site: If they were just a blurry photograph of the product, all scratched up and fingerprinted up, at the wrong angles… they would be much less appealing.
People don’t seem to design products that age well anymore. The economic crisis is going to change that, I believe.
November 7th, 2008 at 6:55 am
but no thank you… and Dieter Rams? but without a scene of proportion… and maybe blind ;|
January 14th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
HTC usually sucks at touch screen but has a lot of juice, so I don’t think this is different. And I don’t really understand why every new phone is announced an iPhone killer. It’s pathetic how they define their brand identity like this.
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:31 am
i want to know the exact idea on how this driverless car system works