Google Android phone to cost $199 on T-Mobile

The first mobile phone to use Google Inc's Android mobile operating software will cost $199, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Wednesday.

The phone, which features a slide-out keypad, is being manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp and will be sold by Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA unit, which plans to unveil the device at an event in New York on September 23.

The Android powered HTC Dream is designed for the core functions like the e-mail, text documents and YouTube. The browser also downloads large files in stages to cut the time it seems to take to bring them onto the phone.

AT&T Inc, the only U.S. operator selling Apple Inc's iPhone, set the price of the latest version at $199 in July, setting a benchmark for smartphones that can surf the Web, manage email and other multimedia features.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said T-Mobile USA plans to release new data service plans in conjunction with the Google phone that will be "aggressively priced."

The story of developing the features for the G phone is quite an interesting one. The company introduced an open challenge to come up with useful application for this Android operated handset. Ten teams won $275,000 each and ten won $100,000 each for their interesting and useful application submissions. Just a few applications worth mentioning are cab4me, which helps you find a cab wherever you are GoCart, which allows you to scan product barcodes and compare product prices at local stores.