T-Mobile Announces New Android Phone

T-Mobile USA has announced its second Android-based smartphone, the myTouch 3G with Google. How does it compare to the current crop of smartphones?

The new Android phone from T-Mobile is called the myTouch 3G with Google. Yes, that's really the full official name. I know, goofy, right? Silly name aside, it has some pretty cool features.

It has a nice, large 3.2-inch capacitive touch display along with a 3.2-megapixel camera with video capture on board. It can access T-Mobile's speedy 3G network, and has Wi-Fi and stereo Bluetooth to boot. It will work pretty much anywhere you choose to take it.

It runs the Android mobile operating system made by Google (hence the "with Google" aspect of its name). The latest version of Android (v1.5) has some nifty features. First, the video camera has a built-in YouTube client, making it super easy to shoot and share your videos directly on YouTube. It also has a new software QWERTY keyboard for typing out messages. The myTouch does not have a physical keyboard, such as you would find on a BlackBerry, This sopftware keyboard works similar to the one found on the Apple iPhone. Another great feature is its voice-searching powers. Rather than type out any search query that you might have, you can simply speak your query instead, and the myTouch will automatically translate your speech and send the results to your phone.

On a feature-by-feature basis, the myTouch does pretty well against the competition. It may not not have the fancy reputation of the iPhone, nor the deep business integration of the BlackBerry, but Android provides end users with deep integration with Google's many services, such as Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Picasa and more.

The myTouch can be pre-ordered starting July 8, and goes on sale in late July or early August. It will cost $200 with a new contract.