The Google phone is here!

The Google phone has finally arrived! The G-1 has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a trackball for navigation. Other features include 3G network connectivity and the ability to zoom on something by tapping on the screen.

One of the big things the G1 allows you to to is multitask, so you can be getting messages as you're talking or doing something else on the phone.

The G1 comes with Google Maps street view, and there is a compass mode, and the scene moves as you do. Google is front and center. There isn't a pinch feature to zoom in and out, as you would with the iPhone, but you can highlight an area, and blow up the image. They also show how you can use the dedicated keyboard and then use the touch screen to access links on a Web page. They show the long press so that you can click on a link and then send an e-mail directly.

The phone will be locked to the T-Mobile network. Brodman said Google and T-Mobile will be marketing the device together. There is no Microsoft Exchange support. But it could be a perfect opportunity for the developers in the Android Market to develop something.

The phone uses browser technology called WebKit that uses the same base technology as Google's Chrome browser. Andy Rubin called it Chrome Lite. Brodman said the device is aimed at the consumer market.

The price: $179 with a two-year service contract.

You can order it today at www.T-MobileG1.com, or it will be in T-Mobile and some retail stores on October 22. It will be available in the United Kingdom in November and other European countries next year.

[Straight from CNET.com]