The mobile phone market is about to see a new entrant heating up the scene a little more: the Google G1, presented yesterday in New York by Sergey Brin and Lerry Page and ready to go on the market already by next month.

G1 will be the first mobile device carrying Google’s mobile software and is reportedly looking similar to Apple IPhone, with a large touch screen but a somehow less appealing design.

So what could make G1 successful in an already overcrowded smart phones’ market? Google is giving away the software that underlies the G1 for free – Android - to grant third parts developers and private computer geeks the opportunity to create their own phone with customized applications and programs.

What Google is trying here is to tap the mobile phone market while broadcasting a consistent brand image – the one of an innovator who also unleashes other’s creativity. Developers will be able to submit applications of own design to an online Google store which will apply minimal vetting.

Whereas Apple had made a similar initiative for the IPhone earlier this year, its control over applications has been quite tight and has ultimately averted software designers’ interest. On the contrary, the fact that third parties will be able to develop freely any kind of application for the G1 means that the mobile presented yesterday is just Google’s first step on the market and that the next months could see a proliferation of custom designed applications which could eventually give Google’s phone a competitive edge.