T-Mobile’s new G1 smartphone based on Google’s Android platform has been positioned against Apple’s iPhone by the media, but that attempt to set up a dramatic showdown has fizzled as details show the two products aren’t very similar.

Even before Google first outlined its Android strategy a year ago, it was clear that the rumored “gPhone” wouldn’t be competing against the iPhone, but rather with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, which threatens Google’s ability to push its search and information services to smartphone users. Apple’s iPhone has served as an outlet for Google’s services ever since it was released.

It's interesting that we are just now starting to see the smartphone OS market heat up. New hardware is great; HTC makes a wicked, spec'd out handset and people go relatively crazy, but the bottom line has always been that you're going to run Windows Mobile. Now that Android is finally dropping, we have a choice. The iPhone doesn't count because Apple keeps it off in its own little controlled-software, isolationist bubble. I really hope the gPhone OS is "all that". Or that MS makes the next version of Windows Mobile totally slick. I'd love to be able to have another viable option when I am looking for a new smartphone.