Over at Search Engine Land I round up most of the major reviews of the T-Mobile G1, the first Android phone. If you want to see all of them for yourself, you can find them on Techmeme.

The bottom line is that the device is compared at every turn to the iPhone. The reviews are all mixed but mostly positive about the phone's usability and the software. Om Malik compares the G1 to Honda vs. the iPhone's BMW. But Honda probably sells more vehicles overall than BMW. Google would probably take that comparison accordingly. 

Here's what I said about the marketplace and my general observations about the entry of the device into the mobile ecosystem:

Android co-founders Andy Rubin and Rich Miner started developing their OS/platform before their startup was acquired in 2005 by Google and before the iPhone was out. The device isn’t a response to the iPhone. However it turns out to be similar to the iPhone in some significant respects.

Had Android and the G1 come out before the iPhone, the reviews would certainly have been almost entirely positive. It would have been much more groundbreaking than it is in the wake of the iPhone (now it has to sell “openness” of the Android software marketplace and the keyboard).

Had the reviews used Windows Mobile 6.1 and/or Nokia’s Symbian OS (now going open-source) as the comparative frame of reference, Android would have been the hands-down winner (as Malik suggests). The G1 and subsequent Android devices — probably now being fast tracked in the wake of the G1’s pre-order sales success — may compete most aggressively against the rest of the market (i.e., Palm, WinMo, Symbian/Nokia, feature phones) than it does the iPhone. That dynamic will emerge and play out over time.

Smartphones represent the future of the market; three of the top five selling phones in the US are smartphones, including two BlackBerry phones and the iPhone. According to NPD Group, smartphones now represent 19% of all new handset sales in the US. We should see that number climb even higher over the next 12-18 months.

According to recent data from TMP Directional Marketing and comScore, more than 50 percent of smartphone users have conducted searches using their devices (vs. 16 percent of feature phone users). Google clearly understands that getting more smartphones — more usable devices — in people’s hands will mean more mobile search. That’s what Android is ultimately about.