T-Mobile announces myTouch 3G Android phone for $199

Set to arrive in August with a two-year contract price of $199 (same as the Palm Pre and the 16GB version of the new iPhone 3G S), the long-anticipated successor to the Android-powered G1 is slimmer, lighter, and does away with the original's slide-out QWERTY keypad.

Announced early Monday, the myTouch 3G (which will be available in three colors: black, white and a "distinctive" merlot) doesn’t exactly come as much of a surprise.

The hardware itself is a virtual carbon copy of the HTC Magic, which went on sale earlier this year in Europe and Canada, while the "myTouch 3G" moniker (plus box art) was leaked earlier this month. The Wall Street Journal reported late last week that an official announcement was imminent.

So, what do we have here, anyway? Well, the main innovation that the myTouch 3G has over last year’s G1 (you can ready my G1 review here) comes in the look-and-feel department. At 4.6 by 2.2 by 0.58 inches and weighing in at 4.1 ounces, the myTouch 3G is a bit slimmer and about an ounce and a half lighter than the brick-like G1, and its curved, sleek lines look considerably more appealing than the G1’s chunky, boxy profile.

Another big change on the myTouch 3G is that it dumps the G1’s slide-out QWERTY keypad (which was a bit slippery for my taste) for an on-screen virtual keypad, à la the iPhone. Speaking of which, the myTouch’s 3.2-inch HVGA display is a tad bigger than the G1’s 3.17-inch display.

As with the G1, the myTouch 3G will run on Google’s touch-enable Android platform, which recently got updated with new features such as video recording, stereo Bluetooth, virtual QWERTY support, and a slew of performance tweaks.

Other features on the myTouch 3G include a 3.2-megapixel camera (same as on the G1), 3G support (naturally), GPS, Wi-Fi, and a microSD memory slot (a 4GB microSD stick comes in the box).

T-Mobile says the myTouch 3G will go on sale in "early" August (no exact release date quite yet), and existing T-Mobile subscribers will be able to pre-order starting July 8.

So, what do you think—how does the myTouch 3G (what we’ve seen of it, anyway) compare to last year’s G1? Would you consider the myTouch over other touchscreen phones like the Pre and the iPhone?