Talk about cutting it close. With less than 12 hours before T-Mobile officially pulls back the curtain on the ultra-hyped G1 Android phone, the floodgates have opened. Images extracted from the depths of T-Mobile’s G1 site have begun hitting tip boxes, and now TmoNews has managed to get their hands on a bunch of specs and details.
What’s known so far:
- In-store, immediate sales only available in locations within 5 miles of a 3G covered area. If a store is beyond that range, representatives will walk customers through a T-mobile.com purchase
- One touch access to: Search, Maps, Gmail, Youtube, Calendar, and Google Talk
- Gmail account and data plan required
- GPS
- 3.1 mp camera, no video recording
- No stereo bluetooth (A2DP)
- Dimensions: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in
- Weighs 5.6 ounces
- 480×320 65K color screen
- 5 hour talk time, 130 hour standby time
- Expandable up to 8GB
We’ll update as more comes in and, of course, be covering tomorrow’s happenings as they go down.
give it to me NOW!
Wow, Google definitely to become the new Microsoft on our mobiles… People will just use the basic settings: 100% GOOGLE.
Google will know everything about you.
Good luck, guys…
Believe me, Google already knows everything about you!
Don’t flatter yourself! Google doesn’t care about YOUR info, they just want advertisers to pay more.
…Every major email/whatever service has easy access to your info, Google is the only company that publicly utilizes it. You are rather behind in the “big brother is watching” curve. But I have to agree with Smithers; Google doesn’t care how many emails you get for mail-order brides, they just want advertising money.
like every other site i use doesn’t know everything already. who cares…cannot wait to dump my iphone for this.
I’ll just stick with my iphone.
I love the keyboard under the screen. I want one.
Very curious that there is no video recording. First the iPhone, now the G1?
Yea but the G1 will be open to alot and eventually they will add video to the next better vers. or have a app or something to it. Im lookin foward for the phone.
I don’t get one thing, won’t it be possible to buy it without data contract? Because, if it is so, it will not be a real free phone…
I hope to buy it at full price next time I’ll be in NY, because here in Europe we’ll have to wait a lot
Wow, I truly hate this phone’s design. It is dull. Next
Looks ugly. Doesn’t have the awesomeness of IPhone.
Awsomeness of the iphone!!!! U have got to be kidding me. Try forwarding a text or getting a mms on ur iphone. My iphone is now in it’s coffin and it’s replacement will be purchased on Oct 22.
how much dou want for ur iphone lol
wait…this thing has no multi-touch? how is that coming even close to the iPhone?
Still think the iPhone is boss
@cosine: My thoughts exactly…I think main point of a phone like this is that I browse the web with multitouch…
any details if you can pop an AT&T sim in?
I hope an android phone comes to New Zealand very soon. I want one!
Obwiously it is not the same as iPhone. However what I am curious about is how the Android platform will be accepted among 3rd party developers. Open source != success. Will it beat Symbian, Blackberry and iPhone?
IMHO no. It lacks the consistency and design of iPhone, popularity of Symbian and the business target of Blackberry. OS enthusiasts on the other hand can be what will drive it.
But the G1 is open device isnt it?? Eventually their going to fix the prob. with it and make it better.
Cool … Very Cool … But what makes this better than an iPhone, or some of the better WinMo Devices?
@David: IMHO:
1) Hardware keyboard
2) Android (= open platform, faster innovation)
3) longer battery life (hopefully)
4) advantage for some: being free from Apple
Remember, that Android Platform is not Open Source, it’s a “branding abuse” of the open idea because part of it is open source.
@Peter
> 2) Android (= open platform, faster innovation)
I do not see this being the case. Open source != faster innovation, there are several examples of it. Moreover, there is one more thing:
Diversity of hardware = more problems for developers
iPhone is a very single platform, both OS and hardware, and this DOES have a great benefit. Diversity in PC market (hardware), diversity in dev libraries (Linux) makes efficient development painful.
Let’s just hope they didn’t leave out copy and paste or the ability to forward attachments. So far, I’m not thrilled by the look of the device. I was really expecting a click HTC device. Nevertheless, if the software just kicks ass, then maybe that’ll make up for it.
Copy and paste is built in. Check out the SDK… it comes with an emulator.
I’m not sure if it will beat the iPhone’s popularity, but the openness of it’s platform is already enough for me. If I don’t like something about how the phone works, I can just rewrite it without having to go through the AppStore Politburo, who would be in direct competition with me.
Looks really nice. Definitely love to support Google than Apple, even though I do own an iPhone.
Only thing I’m skeptical about is the speed of the processor. 300Mhz compared to iPhone’s 650Mhz.
I read the processor is 528MHz. Plus, the OS and apps are pretty lightweight so it should perform seamlessly, especially if developers are complying with Google’s development guide.
Just release me Chrome for Mobile & I’m hooked.
Ehh. Looks ugly.
# 3.1 mp camera, no video recording
# No stereo bluetooth (A2DP)
# 5 hour talk time, 130 hour standby time….these options are bad!!!
please tell me why STEREO bluetooth matters. There’s only a single sound input on a voice call and only a single sound output… one ear.
@jojo: Stereo music playback without wires for folks who use the device as a media player. There are plenty of stereo bluetooth headsets on the market. That said, the audio quality tends to be pure crap.
Hm.
I’ll reserve judgment until I hear about how it works from actual users.
I’m surprised they didn’t open it up to larger microsd cards.
I hope Android spreads quick.
Launching on T-Mobile could be great for working out the kinks, because of the small user base. However, if it doesn’t spread branch out to more devices on more carriers quickly, it could be the beginning of the end.
This phone look basic. need to wax it up … so in shire like a jewel. Then, redesign the button to make it shaper. Button doesn’t have to be all round, triangle, hexagon will make the phone much cooler.
The central button on the menu need to be the center piece an of the focus. so .. can have a different color for that on. (silver, red .. will stand out)
Stop just copy the iphone, need some genuine ideas. if I was the designer, I’m sure I can do whole … much better.
I can see Google taking over everything we do in the next 20 years. You’ll be going to bed with a Google alarm clock, waking up to Google news, walking out to the Google dumpster truck and driving to work with a Google navigation system. Might sound cool to some people, to me, it’s a little scary. It just seems Google is working to get into our lives more and more… in a way I never want to see happen.
I can’t believe not ONE person has yet complained that it has no stereo bluetooth support!
Sure stereo bluetooth is buggy and has issues, but first the iphone, now this??
Come on people – stereo bluetooth has been around for at least 2 years now. What gives!!
And seriously – who cares if it is google branded?? It gives us an alternative to the iPhone OS and the junk we call Windows Mobile. Thank GOD we have a contender for another operating system.
I am anxious to hear the initial response from consumers on this phone. I will be closely watching the situation to see how android developes over the next year (and watching google’s stock go up as well! ha ha)
Why didn’t they preload a few of the applications that won the developer’s contest? Publicity/distribution would be worth as much as the initial cash prize.
BTW; any mention of the store to purchase additional apps/content?
Now it’s here. Let’s see what the public actually thinks after the hype.
http://kreuzer33.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/happy-birthday-google-android/
More android news and a port for the Vogue over at http://www.myhtcphone.com
They didn’t load the apps because a lot of them don’t work with the 0.9 SDK yet. Google made quite a few changes and a lot of the apps have to be rewritten to work with it again.
Um… no A2DP??? Well, I’m sorry G1, but you’re not on my Christmas list anymore!
I bought my first S60 phone last month – it’s taken that long for them get the OS nippy enough for me (but it still crashes every now and again). This is going to be bug-tastic… But, looks like a very nice first go!
I think the Android software will be phenomenal, but aesthetically, not as nice as the Iphone or the Instinct for that matter…. I like a hard keyboard but the really could have used a better design. Can’t wait to hear peoples feedback
A2DP & video recording should be prerequisites for any phone coming into today’s market, and I don’t like the sound of “data plan required” – but I’d still like to get my hands on one to see if Android lives up to the hype.
From the other reviews I’ve read this phone is just too bulky for me to even begin to be interested in it.
Apple has GOT to fix the user experience for MMS on the iPhone. It is way worse than it needs to be, and it is going to be a competitive disadvantage as these new phones come out. I write more about it here: http://blog.mcmanus-family.com/2008/09/the-case-for-mms-on-the-iphone.html
It’s actually a pretty cool phone! I went to the T-mobile store to pre-order one and the manager just happened to own one and he let me check it out, although he wasn’t supposed to. I must admit, it’s shape is a little awkward and it is a bit plastic-y but it’s actually pretty nice. I didn’t get to check out the apps or anything else but I’m still glad I decided to get one and I’m excited to get it next week!
Oh! And about the keyboard. The flip style of the keyboard is pretty smooth and nice. It was a nice touch, since I’m upgrading from a Sidekick the Keyboard is perfect! The buttons feel nice and firm. They even added a trackball, which is interesting. In my opinion, I think that the G1 is like a mix between a Sidekick Slide and an iPhone. It’s still cool though! I give it a 4.5 out of 5. Only because I liked the multi-touch of the iPhone.
I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek of this phone for several hours one day this week. I was excited about it because I am a long time T-Mobile customer who has a good, cheap contract, so I’d like to stick with them. I’ve used a friend’s iPhone a bunch, and like it. But my plan cost will more than double if I switch, so for an additional $25 for the G1 data plan, this phone sounded perfect. Anyway, I’m sorry to say that I was disappointed with the G1. In a nutshell, I just found it much more clunky than the iPhone. The touch screen is not as responsive and the overall interactivity feels slower/much less smooth to me. Simple things like scrolling would work OK sometimes, but other times the web page I was scrolling around in would mysteriously pop into strange positions. Lots of clicking and waiting (and I’m talking OS navigation, NOT loading web pages). The browser zooming is just not as good without the multi-touch. Finally, the screen orientation changes from portrait to landscape when the the keyboard is opened up. The iPhone’s orientation sensor is just a better way to do it. I didn’t check out email or texting, so can’t comment on that. I did briefly look at maps and they also felt somewhat clunky. Anyway, I really think that most of these problems are hardware issues. I think the Android OS has potential (I work in open source development so am a definite fan). I’ve decided to wait patiently to see if T-Mobile offers a better phone with Android. I hope it’s soon.
If it really has no stereo a2dp bluetooth or video recording than its just as piece of sheizer as the iphone
No Tethered Modem??? WTF!!!! That was the best feature on the Wing and MDA…
looks really cool! im just afraid it may dissapoint. im between getting this and the iphone….1 gig capacity??
ugh…this and the iphone have such great potentials…i wish you could give the g1 all the advantages of the iphone…then it would be PERFECT. it should me more sleek and have the multitouch. the phone should have more storing capacity, mainly for music and videoes. speaking of which, IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE VIDEOS!! all that and maybe the response to motion the iphone has and shoot, no phone can compete!
ultrahyped? i’m not at all
over all SAMSUNG i900 IS THE BOSS