T-mobile has finally released the much anticipated MyTouch Slide, which is good news for those of us that love android powered phones. The huge advantage to the Android operating system is that it is open, and may free applications are made for it, as opposed to the IPhone which charges you for seemingly everything. This phone is nothing revolutionary, but rather it is an evolution of the Google operating system that has been on the market a couple of years now. It truly is worth looking into though, especially for those that are into faster speed, multitasking, and social networking.

First of all, the new Slide has a 600 MHZ processor. That may seem slow compared to your home computer, but it is ample to run almost any program on a smartphone. It is a huge improvement from other T-Mobile phones as well, so if you have an older G1 or Cliq, this phone may surprise you. The Nexus 1 from Google has a faster processor at 1 GHZ, but I must tell you that I found the Slide to be just a quick and responsive as the Nexus. T-Mobile really did a good job working with HTC on making a phone that has good speed, but won't break the bank.

There are several things I really love about this phone. First of all, it has a keyboard (YEAH!). I think many manufacturers are realizing the majority of people simply don't like a virtual keyboard. Second, it has several modes that you can set for different times of the day, or even for specific locations (Cool). Say for instance you want to have several productivity aps that you want to use only at work and then forget about them the rest of the time. You can set the T-Mobile Slide to change to a work mode when you get there and bring those aps up. How you wonder is the phone going to know you are at work? Well, it has GPS of course, and you can set a specific location for the phone to bring certain aps up. Same thing if you want to have social networking sites only available when you leave work (so you can actually get some work done), you can set a time for that as well.

It also has what is called a genius button. That may be a little hyperbole, maybe is should be called the pretty neat button, but that doesn't sound as cool. What it does is allows you to do is listen to emails, voicemails, and texts, yes I said listen to. If you have it set to that mode, when a text comes in the T-Mobile slide will ask you if you want the text read to you. You say yes and the phone will read it to you. I found it does a pretty good job of this, even with curse words (not to give you any ideas) and symbols even. And the super cool thing is it will work in reverse if you want to SEND a text, you can just speak it. Now that is neat.

Another nice touch is that the MyTouch Slide will not have to have a Google account simply to make and receive calls. One of the problems with previous Android phones was that people locked themselves out and forgot the junk email they used to set up the phone in the first place. Then, they could not even make calls and it was a real inconvenience. This phone will at least be able to make calls if you forget your password. Another advantage to that is that you don't have to have internet service for the phone simply to work. I know, what is the point of getting this phone if you are not going to use the internet on it? But, what if you want to use the phone overseas, or simply have a month where you can't afford the extra $30 for internet. At least you have the option.

Other goodies include a really good camera (5MP). It took really good pictures and videos for me and I like the special effects features which I haven't had since my Memoir. And of course, the T-Mobile Slide has the 2.1 version of the Google operating system. This gives you many more features and tons of new aps in the marketplace available for download. The seven home screens are an interesting touch, but since most people only use one or two, that may be a little overkill. The power button on the top seemed a little out of place, a little too easy to hit if you put it in your pocket, but that is a minor thing. I also like that finally, T-Mobile wised up and put a normal 3.5 mm headphone jack on the Slide. It got so annoying using that crummy little adapter. It also has all the other bells and whistles of modern smartphones like POP3 email, exchange email (good deal), calendars, maps, GPS, etc. The faves gallery (A list of your 20 closest contacts) is a little perplexing considering T-Mobile did away with the MyFaves over a year ago, but of course you don't have to use it. All in all a pretty great consumer smartphone.

It is going to be for sale for 179.99 with a full upgrade, which is very affordable for a phone with so many features. Think about it, if you upgrade and don't like the phone, there is a strong possibility you can get the majority of your money back by selling it on EBay, as used smartphones seem to command incredible sums for unwarrantied devices. Or, you can simply return it in a couple of weeks and get your money back. Certainly worth trying it out anyway. I know a lot of people want the phone free, but if you are looking for something free, it is not going to have Android and it is not going to have many features, so get over it. Just find the phone that is right for you and stay with it for several years, unless you have a phone fetish, and then you don't care about the money anyway. The T-Mobile MyTouch Slide 3G (what a name) isn't going to change the world or cure hemorrhoids, but it is a pretty neat phone. I like it, why not give it a shot if you are looking for a new phone?