T-Mobile UK cuts Android G1 pricing

The UK’s exclusive provider of the first Android-based handset has expanded the tariffs on which the gadget is available free, allowing consumers to get their hands on the G1 for nothing on a £30 per month contract.

T-Mobile UK was charging around £50 for the smartphone, until this week when it made the G1 available for free on its £35 and £30 per month tariffs.

Device exclusivity is just one of the ways mobile operators are now bitterly competing, with T-Mobile facing tough opposition from O2 with the iPhone and Vodafone with the BlackBerry Storm.

Late last month, Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC (High Tech Computer), which manufactures the G1, almost doubled its projected shipments for the first commercial device to be based on the Android operating system.

By the end of 2008, the gadget maker now expects to shift 1 million units of the G1, available on T-Mobile networks in the US and Europe. This is up from earlier projections of 600,000.

In other news, T-Mobile is also hoping to beat the credit crunch blues by offering ad funded mobile games.

T-Mo customers can access at least one new game per week by joining the operator’s Game Club. The first free game available to consumers is Poker Million II, and new games will be made available each week.

In exchange for watching two full screen, targeted adverts before starting the game and two adverts after the game has finished, customers get the game for free and will not be hit with any hidden charges. Within the UK, customers will not be charged for the data required for downloading the game or accessing the adverts. The full screen, interstitial adverts are interactive and enable the user to visit an advertiser’s mobile site or even click to call or text the advertiser.