T-Mobile G1 Coming to Wal-Mart at a Discount

Wal-Mart will soon begin offering the first Android-based smartphone at a price about 17% less than the regular cost. 

The T-Mobile G1 launched last week for $180 when bought directly from this wireless carrier. Starting Wednesday, the retail giant Wal-Mart is going to start selling it for $149.

Naturally, the usual conditions apply. To get this price, customers will have to either be new T-Mobile subscriber or qualify for a discounted upgrade. They will also have to sign a two-year service contract.

How Many Sold?

Putting the G1 in the largest retailer in the U.S. will certainly raise its profile, and likely increase sales.

Exactly how many G1 units have been sold so far remains a mystery. An unconfirmed report indicated that customers had pre-ordered over a million of them, but that number has been contradicted by the chief executive of HTC, the company producing this device for T-Mobile.

The Peter Chou said recently that HTC expects to sell over 600,000 G1s before the end of this year.

More About the T-Mobile G1

The T-Mobile G1 is a consumer-oriented smartphone with support for this carrier's new 3G network.

It includes an 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen, a QWERTY keyboard, GPS, and Wi-Fi. It also sports a microSD card slot and a 3.2 megapixel camera. The G1 has a highly functional web browser, and supports many of Google's services, like Gmail and Google Maps.

What makes the G1 special though isn't the hardware, but that it's the first device running an operating system that was developed primarily by Google. This includes tie-ins to a number of this company's online services, including Gmail and Google Maps. 

The G1 will be released in the United Kingdom in November.

Related Articles:

• T-Mobile G1 Preview

 Via CNN