They’re just about here – the Google Android phones are set for release in Canada on June 2nd.

These are the newest smart phones, made by HTC, which should give iPhone and Blackberry a run for their money (literally).  We talked about the 2009 launch of these phones in Canada at the beginning of the year.  It’s a hugely anticipated release because, well, let’s face it – it’s always exciting to have competition enter the cell phone market.

When we talked about the Android phones in January, we talked about some gimmicky features, such as the unique touch-screen way of locking and unlocking the handset.  Instead of punching in a pincode on a keypad, you trace a pattern on a 3×3 grid of dots to lock the phone, and have to re-create that pattern in order to unlock it.  The Google Android phones have a few other noteworthy tidbits to make owning one of these handsets exciting.

There are a slew of applications already up and running, since the product has already been on the market in other countries.  There are more than 3500 “apps” already available, and new ones are created and added to the Android library every day.  Now, you might say, “Big deal – iPhone already does this.”  But here’s the difference:  Practically all of Android’s apps are free.  Rather than be dirt-cheap at 99 cents, they are flat-out free.  As one online reviewer put it, “It’s sell-a-guy-a-meal vs give-a-guy-a-free-farm and see what happens” kind of deal.

There’s one app in particular that’s caught a lot of reviewers’ eyes – it’s the Sky Maps app.  It uses the compass, GPS and accelerometers that are built into the HTC Dream or HTC Magic phones to show you real-time representation of the stars in the sky – even in broad daylight.  For example, if you point it to the western horizon, it will show you the stars you would see in that direction, and if you pan it up overhead and it would show you that would-be-view.  I think the part that makes everyone say, “No way, cool!!!!” is when you point it to the ground, because it will show you the stars on the other side of the world, right through the earth you’re standing on.

It’s gimmicky things like these that make a phone stand out from the rest.  But only time will tell how the Google Android phones stand up to the already booming smart phone market.  Rogers will be the cell phone company carrying the phones starting tomorrow.  As for price, seems everyone involved is keeping quiet on that topic until the release.