Android isn’t the “Google Phone” or “GPhone.” It’s a (mostly) free and open-source mobile operating system that’s made to run on all kinds of cell phones, and allow nearly anyone who can program in Java to create and distribute applications for it.

Google spilled their plans for Android at the same time—November 2007—they announced that 34 hardware, software, and network companies had signed onto their Open Handset Alliance. In other words, Tuesday’s press hoopla surrounds just the first phone to utilize Android, T-Mobile’s HTC Dream; unless it’s an outright failure, most cell customers can expect to see their carrier hawking an Android phone in the not-too-distant future.

So what will Android look and feel like? We know that, at least with the Dream, phone users will use the flip-out mini-keyboard to enter text, but rely on a prominent, iPhone-like touch screen for navigation. Of course, if an Android developer wants to build a touch-screen keyboard, there’s nothing to stop them. One major difference between any Android phone and Apple’s iPhone stems from the Cupertino company’s patent application for “multi-touch” features; Android users can’t resize their screens by pinching and expanding, or use two fingers to dual-finger scroll, but, other than that, you’re flipping between work screens with a finger flick, tapping and dragging icons around, and otherwise manipulating your phone world with your fingers.

Don’t take our word for it, though. To see Android in action, check out our sibling Gizmodo’s in-depth video tour of Android’s 0.9 development environment. The Dream and other Android phones may end up looking different (and, inevitably, deeply branded with your carrier’s colors and logos, because you obviously can’t remember who you pay more than $40 each month to), but they’ll share the basic navigation, app-launching and phone-using functions explored in that video.