New York - Retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) will sell HTC's G1 mobile phone -- the first handset to feature Google's (NASD: GOOG) Android operating system -- for $30 less than exclusive wireless carrier partner T-Mobile is charging for the device, Reuters reported. Walmart is now selling the G1 for $148.88 to customers who sign up for a two-year contract with T-Mobile. T-Mobile, meanwhile, is selling the G1 for $179.

The recent release of the G1 (aka Google phone) through T-Mobile and soon to be released Blackberry Bold & Storm prompted me to compare search activity among the new handheld devices. We often compare the search volume on new products to gauge the strength of consumer interest and how that may translate into sales. The Blackberry Storm was the most commonly searched product with 3.5x the volume of searches for Blackberry Bold and 3.9x the volume of the G1.

New York - Mobile network operator T-Mobile USA on Tuesday introduced the G1, the first mobile phone to feature Google's Android operating system, which will sell for $179 with a two-year voice and data agreement when it goes on sale first in the U.S. on Oct. 22. Viewed as a smartphone that will challenge Apple's iPhone, the G1 -- manufactured by Taiwan's HTC -- features both a touch-screen display and a full QWERTY hardware keyboard that slides out from underneath.