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First Google Powered Phone

By The Associated Press

T-Mobile plans to show off the first wireless phone powered by Google Inc.'s much-anticipated Android software system First Google Powered Phone

Published: Tue, September 16, 2008 - 4:07 pm Last Updated: Tue, September 16, 2008 - 4:18 pm

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- T-Mobile plans to show off the first wireless phone powered by Google Inc.'s much-anticipated Android software system at a Sept. 23 news conference.

Although T-Mobile intends to demonstrate the phone for reporters and analysts invited to next week's event in New York, the handset isn't expected to be available in stores until next month.

More specifics about the phone's shipping date and pricing are still to come. T-Mobile is expected to subsidize part of the phone's cost for buyers who agree to subscribe to the carrier's mobile service.

The phone, made by HTC, has generated a big buzz because it will be the first to use Google's Android software, which is supposed to make it easier and more enticing to surf the Internet on a handset.

Google is counting on the software, announced last November, to help sell more advertising by encouraging more people to use its Internet search engine and other services while they are away from the office or home.

T-Mobile's phone will face stiff competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which is Google's largest source of mobile traffic so far, and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry. If Google realizes its ambitions, hundreds of different mobile devices will run on the Android system.

© 2008 The Associated Press