T-Mobile today took the wraps of the first pay-as-you-go (PAYG) Google Android-based handset in the form of the Pulse.
While many mobile makers have rushed to serve up Android handsets to try and challenge the iPhone's throne, they are generally aimed at higher end users so the market is ripe for a more affordable option, according to T-Mobile.
The Pulse follows in the footsteps of T-Mobile's other Android devices, the G1 and G2 Touch, bringing with it a 3.5in full touchscreen display which auto-rotates, built-in GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, 2GB internal memory and support for a microSD card.
Clad in a black polished chrome shell, the 130g Huawei hardware-based device also offers a little something purely for business users as it delivers access to corporate email thanks to a Road sync client.
"We introduced the first Android handset, the T-Mobile G1, to the UK back in October 2008, launched our second handset the G2 Touch earlier this year and now we're opening up Android-based smartphones to a whole new type of mobile user with the first handset on pay-as-you-go. It really is a significant development in the Android story," Nicola Shenton, T-Mobile's acting head of handset and device marketing, said in a statement. "We predicted back in June that we expected that one in five T-Mobile mobile internet users will have Android-powered devices by the end of the year and the launch of the T-Mobile Pulse is a major step in making this a reality."
The Pulse will hit the shops next month with a 179.99 price tag.
