T-Mobile G2 Android phone first to use evolved HSPA service

T-Mobile G2, the successor to the first-ever Android handset, will hit shelves later this month. The G2 will use the HSPA+ high-speed network, T-Mobile says.

The T-Mobile G1, which was introduced in the fall of 2008, was the first to run Android, the operating system developed by Google. Its successor, the T-Mobile G2, will be the first phone in the US to take advantage of HSPA+, a relatively new high-speed data network. That's the news from T-Mobile, which today unveiled the G2, calling the second generation handset "another breakthrough product" for the smartphone market.

The original G1 received high marks from many tech reviewers – some analysts thought the G1 had the capability to challenge the Apple iPhone head-on – and from consumers. In 2009, T-Mobile announced it had sold 1 million G1 handsets within six months of launch, a solid number for a phone that was at that time running a relatively new operating system.

With the G2, T-Mobile is hoping it can catch fans of the G1 – or former iPhone users looking to make a switch to an Android phone. As Google's Andy Rubin hinted today in a press release, Android phones offer a nice alternative to the "walled garden" created by Apple. "On Android Market alone, the number of applications available to consumers has grown from just 50 applications two years ago to more than 80,000 applications today," Rubin wrote.

The phone is certainly a full-featured machine. According to T-Mobile, the G2 will ship with the Android 2.2 operating system – "including a dedicated panel with one-click access to your favorite Google applications" – a MSM7230 Snapdragon mobile processor, Adobe Flash, Swype text input, and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and HD video capability.