T-Mobile USA on Wednesday made the formal, nationwide launch of its G1, the first phone to run Google's Android operating system.

The G1 smartphone is now available to consumers at retail outlets in cities where T-Mobile's 3G service is available, including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and Seattle. The company made its first retail sale of the G1 Tuesday evening in San Francisco.

Along with 3G support, the HTC-built G1 features a touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, and GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity. But the big attraction for many will be the open-source Android software, the means by which Google is seeking to up-end the old ways of the telecommunications business.

The Android mobile operating system is closely tied to Google services and, says Stephen Shankland, it gives the Internet titan yet another way to get people to use them.

For instance:
Search ads are, of course, Google's bread and butter. Android's Web browser can use others' search engines, but a secondary part of the G1's home screen features a prominent Google search box. There's no option to change the search box to use search from Microsoft or Yahoo.

See the Review of Google G1 Android mobile phone