With the launch of the G1, the first phone running on the Android OS, Google has officially entered the mobile market and at a price $20 below the iPhone. The phone looks cool, Walt Mossberg seems to like it, a pretty big endorsement, and Open Source is a big step in a positive direction for the mobile device market.

We made some predictions back at the New Year about the growth of mobile in ‘08 and reported delays in the release of Android had us tempering those a bit, but it looks like Google has pulled off their first operating system launch well. and taken another step toward Google controlling the media and advertising we consume on a daily basis.

In a blog post Google Product Marketing Director Marc Vanlerberghe pitches Android as a universal solution for bringing everything anyone could want on a single mobile device.

For those of us in mobile, it’s tough. Not all products work the same on all devices, and although we try and optimize for each device, we often run into challenges specific to certain mobile phone platforms. I, for one, used to carry three devices with me all day. I love my iPhone for its powerful browser and music player. I use my BlackBerry for Gmail and Calendar (and occasionally Brick Breaker), and I carry a Nokia N-series phone because of its camera and YouTube application.

Of course while the open source platform may bring together the best of all worlds, you will need a Google account to even use the phone, locking in mobile users in much the same way that iTunes controls device interactions for Mac users, giving rise at least in my mind to privacy concerns.

Mobile device interactions if tracked carry immense value, the recent launch of Chrome has been challenged for its questionable privacy practices, and at the end of the day, how much privacy are you willing to give up in exchange for a mobile device that does it all?

If you’re waiting as anxiously for your Gphone as others were for their iPhones, you’ll have to wait a little longer. But you can catch an early glimpse courtesy of Gizmodo. While there’s plenty of prototypes of hardware being shown at the Mobile World Congress, Gizmodo has sneak peak video of the Android operating system in use.