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T-Mobile has taken the wraps off the much-ballyhooed Android phone with Google and handset manufacturer HTC at a splashy media event here, helped by a surprise appearance by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Cole Brodman, CTO and chief innovation officer for T-Mobile USA, predicted that the new G1 phone would change the mobile browsing experience, especially for U.S.-based consumers, who until now, he said, haven't had many compelling experiences with the mobile Internet.

"We're going to change all that," he said. "How? By using open systems, and open standards."

Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms for Google, said open sourcing the Android platform will be key.

"Because the platform is open, we think Android is somewhat future-proofed because it has openness built in," he said.

Expect Android devices to geared toward consumers at first, Brodman said, but they hope to see some updates for business users.

That would help explain why there is no support for key applications such as Microsoft Exchange. But Rubin said the platform can read Microsoft Word and Excel documents, and Adobe PDF files.

"There's a great opportunity for third-party developers to bring Exchange components to the device."

Google and its partners may have a good deal of work ahead of them if they seek to gain share in the workplace. A study released yesterday from J. Gold Associates predicted that Android would garner 4.8 percent of the business market during the next three years, while Apple's iPhone would claim a 16 percent share.


        T-Mobile G1

The firm also predicted that RIM's BlackBerry, which now holds 65.5 percent market share, will continue to dominate with a slightly lower 59.3 percent share. At the same time, the big gainer may be Microsoft: J. Gold reported that it believes Windows Mobile's share of the market will grow over the next three years, increasing from 22.5 percent to 28.6 percent.

Starting price for the T-Mobile G1 is $179 when it hits the market Oct. 22. The device features a pop-up screen to enable users to use a QWERTY keyboard.

Story courtesy of internetnews.com.