In design, the device seems to borrow quite a bit from T-Mobile’s Sidekick, and its touchscreen GUI owes a thing or two to Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. Which makes perfect sense, since that’s the device it’s clearly intended to compete with. The G1 will run on both 3G and Wi-Fi and be tethered to the T-Mobile (DT) network. It will come preloaded with a version of Amazon’s MP3 store and Android Market, an application store similar to Apple’s App Store. And it will support and sync with the broad spectrum of Google (GOOG) apps–Google Talk, Google Calendar, etc. Its browser is something the dev team refers to as Chrome-Lite, a mobile version of Google’s new Webkit-based Chrome browser.

Oddly, the G1 has no built-in video player. Odder still, it has just 1GB of memory. T-Mobile has helpfully outfitted it with a 1GB/month bandwidth cap, though.

The G1 supports PDFs and Microsoft Office documents as well. Email will be handled through Gmail; there is no Exchange support, though presumably, engineers developing for Android Market will fill that void in short order.

Oh, the device offers copy-and-paste functionality. Hear that Apple?

It will arrive at market Oct. 22. Price: a highly-subsidized $179.

Unless you simply kept it in beta for a few years like some of your other products. …

Just use an Internet-based service so that you can chat from a Web page without having to install any software, which might be blocked by a firewall. I tested two such services: Meebo at www.meebo.com and KoolIM at www.koolim.com. Both are free.

These services let you simultaneously log in to multiple IM accounts — and communicate with people with various services. If you have a friend who uses Yahoo Messenger, for example, and another who likes MSN Messenger, you can chat with either.

Another plus: Meebo and KoolIM are far less vulnerable to viruses than downloadable applications. They’re also more efficient, saving users the hassle of installing multiple programs on a computer. This is especially handy for people with old computers that slow down when running several applications.

Meebo has a well-designed, sleek interface that makes it appealing to even the least tech savvy. From its home page, you simply sign in for different IM services—MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, GTalk (or Jabber) and AIM (or ICQ). Your buddy list will be combined automatically. You don’t have to register, but if you do, you get perks such as a single sign-on for all of your accounts, and the ability to share files, save chat logs and store conversations.

I tried Meebo on my work Windows PC and my iBook at home, and it worked well on both. To start chatting, you just log in to any of the IM services by entering the screen name and password you already have with a service, or by picking a new name, password and services. Your buddy list will appear in a window on the right side of the page, with each name marked by an icon denoting the service the person uses. Once in your buddy list, you can add or delete a contact, message or join a group chat.

The service also offers MeeboMe, a way to chat from your own Web site. Bloggers can use this to start a conversation with site visitors who log in to their Meebo account. It also shows how many users are on the site at any time.

But Meebo, like most such Web services, lacks the ability for audio and video chats — basic features on installed IM software. If you’re used to plugging in a Webcam and headgear to chat with friends, these services might not be for you. Meebo also doesn’t have the standard send button that’s on installed IM software. Instead, you press a key on your keyboard.

Sharing files using Meebo is tricky, too. Only Meebo account holders can send files; although anyone can receive them. When I sent a PDF file to my friend on her installed MSN Messenger, she received a message and a link that rerouted her to Meebo’s home page with no further guidance. When I sent her the same file after she logged in to her MSN using Meebo, she could open the file.

KoolIM also connects users to multiple IM accounts from one Web page. It gives you the option to create an online account, so you don’t need separate log-ins for each IM service you’ll encounter.

You can select an embedded or a pop-up version of the service. The embedded version shows your buddy list and messages as windows tied to a Web page, while the pop-up version lets you move the windows around the screen. You can choose to display all of your buddies or only the ones online. In your buddy-list window you can add and delete names and log in to or out of a service.

I didn’t like having text ads appear at the bottom of the IM window in KoolIM, or the fact that, unlike Meebo, there isn’t a time stamp on messages to tell you when they arrived. It also doesn’t allow you to send files, as Meebo does. And it doesn’t let you save conversations or chat logs. KoolIM’s lack of some of these basic features might make it less appealing to consumers, especially those who ponder swapping it with their desktop software.

I preferred Meebo, but both services are good alternatives to installed IM, if you’re willing to do without audio and video features.

Walt Mossberg is on vacation. Find all my columns and videos online free at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

• Email me at Sarmad.Ali@wsj.com.

According to people familiar with Google’s plans, the company is indeed working on a mobile handset. “Google has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the cellphone project,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “It has developed prototype handsets, made overtures to operators such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, and talked over technical specifications with phone manufacturers. It hopes multiple manufacturers will make devices based on its specs and multiple carriers will offer them.”

Interesting, eh? You know who else probably has a few of those prototype handsets? Sprint Nextel. Remember, Google did announce an alliance with the carrier last week, one that will see the two companies working together to bring Google’s search, digital-mapping technologies and GTalk chat service to Sprint’s WiMax network. Five dollars and an Eric Schmidt bobblehead says if and when Google-customized phones do arrive at market, they run on Sprint’s high-speed wireless network first.

According to people familiar with Google’s plans, the company is indeed working on a mobile handset. “Google has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the cellphone project,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “It has developed prototype handsets, made overtures to operators such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, and talked over technical specifications with phone manufacturers. It hopes multiple manufacturers will make devices based on its specs and multiple carriers will offer them.”

Interesting, eh? You know who else probably has a few of those prototype handsets? Sprint Nextel. Remember, Google did announce an alliance with the carrier last week, one that will see the two companies working together to bring Google’s search, digital-mapping technologies and GTalk chat service to Sprint’s WiMax network. Five dollars and an Eric Schmidt bobblehead says if and when Google-customized phones do arrive at market, they run on Sprint’s high-speed wireless network first.

Given Google’s well-documented efforts to set up a free Wi-Fi network in San Francisco, we believe the upcoming spectrum auctions could represent a rare opportunity for the company to acquire something resembling an exclusive (licensed) nationwide WiMax footprint, and largely eliminate any access dependency on third parties. As such, we believe Google’s potential involvement bears watching, especially in light of the fact the company has shown little hesitation in delving into the other aspects of networking. Google’s selection of equipment vendors, such as Force10 and Infinera, indicate to us a willingness to embrace leading-edge technologies, and we believe WiMax fits that description.”

–Joe Chiasson, Susquehanna Financial Group, February 2006

This morning Google announced an alliance with Sprint Nextel that will see the two companies working together to bring Google’s search, digital mapping technologies and GTalk chat service to Sprint’s WiMax network, which, once it’s completed, will theoretically allow wireless Web access at speeds and prices similar to cable connections.

The deal follows the announcement of Sprint’s plans to collaborate with Clearwire to build out a nationwide WiMax network by the end of 2008. It also follows Google’s conditional pledge to drop at least $4.6 billion on the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of the 700-megahertz spectrum, which has long been said to be the future of WiMax (with fewer line-of-sight issues and wider coverage and better building penetration).

Coincidence? Or part of a master plan in which Google wins the 700-megahertz spectrum, uses it to help complete the Sprint/Clearwire nationwide WiMax network effort and then announces the long-rumored Google Phone–upending the telco-cable duopoly in the process?

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about alternatives to instant messaging at work, what to look for in an inexpensive PC and using Macs to make trades.

If you have a question, send it to me at mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg’s Mailbox.

My company has banned us from using instant-messaging programs on our work computers, claiming they are a security threat. Is there an alternative way for me to keep using instant messaging, which I consider a useful business tool?

Yes. You just have to use a service that replicates the functions of instant-messaging software inside a Web page. That way you aren’t downloading an instant-messaging program onto the company’s computer, you’re simply using the Web browser already on that computer.

I’ve recently seen a cool new Web service of this type called Meebo, at http://www.meebo.com. It’s only 11 weeks old, and it’s still in testing, but it enables users to sign into four different instant-messaging services — Time Warner’s America Online’s AIM (or ICQ); Microsoft’s MSN Messenger; Yahoo Messenger; and Google’s GTalk (or Jabber). You even can log on to all four simultaneously and see a combined buddy list. Meebo is basic and hasn’t yet added fancy features like file transfers, but it works well on Windows PCs and Macs. And, it’s very slick. You even can move the message and buddy-list windows around within the Web page.

If the Meebo site won’t come up on your company computer, try the secure version, at https://www.meebo.com. If your company blocks this, too, I suspect it just hates the idea of instant messaging at work for reasons that go beyond security.

How can you suggest that people consider buying a Macintosh now when Apple Computer will be coming out with all-new models based on Intel processors starting next year?

With any digital-technology product, the pace of change is so rapid that there is always a newer, supposedly better model on the horizon. But people buy these products when they need them. If you wait and wait, you lose the use of the new computer or other product in the meantime. And the next model may be flawed or otherwise unsuitable.

My recommendation last week of the best desktop computer on the market this holiday season, the Apple iMac G5, was meant for people who plan to buy a computer this holiday or within the next few months. Apple’s changeover will be gradual; there is no indication when the iMac G5 will be replaced by a Mac with an Intel processor. It could be as late as 2007, according to Apple’s public statements. There is no way to know if a future Intel-based model will be better or less expensive.

In addition, current Macs will remain highly useful for years even after the Intel models arrive. Makers of software and peripherals are highly unlikely to restrict their products to Intel-based Macs, which will be few in number compared with the tens of millions of Macs based on the current design. Apple has devised a system for creating software that runs on both designs.

I would like to purchase a PC for my mother but do not have much money to spend. All she uses it for is email really. But I think if she had decent processing speed, she’d surf the Internet more. What PC would you recommend that is the least expensive, works with wireless Internet technology, and has decent processing speed?

The least expensive PCs are bargain-basement Windows desktop models. I haven’t tested these machines lately, but almost any of the sub-$500 desktop models should do the trick for these simple uses. You likely will have to pay extra for wireless Internet connectivity, since most desktop computers — even costly ones — don’t come with that feature, which is meant mainly for laptops. Also, make sure your bargain model has security software, a CD drive, and speakers — some don’t. You may have to add those features at extra cost.

As for “decent processing speed,” your implication that fast processors are needed for Web surfing is just plain wrong. The slowest processor on the computer-store shelf is more than powerful enough to handle Web browsing. If you have any extra money to spend in your tight budget, don’t spend it on a faster processor. Instead, make sure the memory is at least 256 megabytes, or 512 if you can afford it. That will have a bigger effect on Web performance.

In your favorable review of the new Apple iMac G5 computer last week, you said it may be the wrong choice for day traders. Why? Are Mac owners unable to trade stocks?

Although I believe Apple’s Macintosh computers and its Tiger operating system are superior to Windows computers today for mainstream consumers and small businesses, I have long advised that there are some niche groups for whom Windows is still the best choice. This is mainly because the Mac can’t compete with Windows for cutting-edge games and niche software.

The biggest examples of people who should stick with Windows are heavy-duty game players, or users who rely on specialized Windows software provided by their employers. I mentioned day traders in this list, because heavy traders sometimes rely on special software available only for Windows, or on Web sites that work best in Windows.

But I was speaking only about the most intense, full-time, stock traders. You certainly can buy and sell stocks on a Macintosh, using the popular Mac Web browsers, and many people do.

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Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can’t routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.