Whilst in the United States a week or so ago, I got to take a look at the much hyped new Google G1 phone being offered  by T Mobile. In my view all the reports are true - it certainly isn't going to win any beauty contests!. Its very monolithic and industrial in its design and I'm not sure how much consumer abuse its "innovative" hinged screen will take. It is a design from Htc however so it should stay the course. The OS also seems responsive and usable enough, though in some ways not as comprehensive as Windows Mobile.

To me the most important aspect of the G1 is not the phone hardware but its use of the Android 'open source' platform.  Essentially what Google are doing with the G1 is providing a a portal device that provides easy dedicated access for many of the Google applications (Google Maps, GMail, Google Search) in a mobile format. Imagine the possibilities for significant location based applications,  where the GPS feeds its location to Google search to find the nearest restaurant, cinema etc and automatically links to the correct Google Map to get you there.

All of this provided out of the box with dedicated buttons and no need for additional applications. As is it is technically an open source platform there are also possibilities for vertical niche applications on the device. It is the integration and bringing together in one place rather than individual technology features here which are key.

I am attending  the Microsoft TechEd EMEA event in Barcelona this week so it will be interesting to see how some of the Microsoft mobile development sessions stack up against some of the elements introduced by the G1.

I will blog with all the issues I encounter at TechEd.