David Wong, also known as planetbeing, of the iPhone Dev Team has announced that he has successfully ported Google's Android mobile operating system to run on an Apple iPhone 2G

As we've noted before, the T-Mobile G1 or "Google phone," based on Android, is doing better than expected. In 2009, many Android phones are going to be appearing, and as applications and innovative designs proliferate, they could give the iPhone a run for its money. Today, photos are appearing of Lenovo's Ophone, which is an Android phone that it has slated for delivery in China.

The first phone to use Google's Android platform is set to debut on Sept. 23. Will it generate the buzz that Apple's iPhone did when it first launched? Unlikely, writes Reuters' Yinka Adegoke. However, developers are looking forward to Android's openness, something iPhone sorely lacks.

Those considering whether to go Google with a new G1 or step to Apple for an iPhone 3G should take a close look at the handsets themselves. They should also look at the bigger picture. What network support will each one deliver? Which third-party app marketplace will better suit their preferences? Which offers the better service plan?

Google unveiled the first Android-powered cell phone last week, a T-Mobile-branded device dubbed the G1. Comparisons to Apple's iPhone were immediate -- and that is a good thing for Android, when you consider what a raucous and contentious week it was for iPhone developers.

The Droid, the smartphone released Nov. 6 through a partnership between Motorola, Google and Verizon Wireless, has significantly outpaced other Android handsets in first-week sales, according to one analytics firm -- which said the feat makes the Droid the first viable iPhone challenger.

The number of phones shipped using Google's Android platform is set to grow much faster than the iPhone this year, estimates from Strategy Analytics maintain today. Devices like the T-Mobile G1 have just a small fraction of shipments today but are expected to grow 900 percent in 2009 as multiple extra smartphones launch and more carriers come onboard.

Google's Android mobile platform wasn't robust, Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo said in an interview published yesterday, where he also disclosed he owns an Apple iPhone, among other handsets.

Google and Apple both seem to take the competition between Android and iPhone as an existential, company-defining battle.