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T-Mobile and Google Introduce First Android Phone

Mazda 3s said:
I think that a lot of people are missing a key fact here...

The T-Mobile G1 is not the "de-facto" "end-all-be-all" of Android-based phones. This is NOT the only Android based phone that will be released. Quite the contrary, this is just the beginning.

This isn't like the iPhone where you have basically one phone that is design locked and carrier locked for basically a year until the next generation comes out.

We will be seeing phones from the likes of Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T all using different designs. So if you think this one is ugly, well unlike with Apple, there will be a number of differing designs to choose from.

So if you don't like the G1's "fugly looks" or lack of a headphone jack, well fine -- there will be other Android phones out there to suit your needs.

To simply look at the T-Mobile G1 and damn the whole Android platform is pretty idiotic.
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True, but the web browser on the Android platform is GARBAGE. If you look at the video comparison to the iPhone, the browser on the G1 cannot compete. That has little to do with the phone, and more to do with the software. I'm sure it will get better over time, but first impressions are important, as shown by the iPhone, and this device isn't giving a good first impression.

Overall, not very impressed. The software looks like "good" phone software, whereas the iPhone revolutionized phone software. Android doesn't seem to be the as good as people had stated.

Maybe now that Google is requiring you to sign up for Gmail, they can get Gmail out of its beta phase :p. Kind of strange that you need to join a "beta" to get a phone.
 
Mazda 3s said:
Hmmm, sounds JUST like the first generation iPhone. But look what happened a year later for the iPhone!! Better corporate support, App Store, iTunes Music Store, etc.

It'd be great if people would give Google the same chance/opportunity, but I guess that's asking too much... :rolleyes:
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And I didn't buy the iPhone last year either. ;)
 
I like and dislike it. I would never buy this over an iPhone though, this meaning the first Android phone...

Problems:

-No headphone jack
-T-Mobiles network is crap around here
-The device looks cheap
-MP3 player is very basic
 
HiRez said:
Question: does anyone know the details of how they are implementing the copy/paste?
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Not sure if you're asking about the UI or the actual implementation, but...

I can tell you, somewhat in Apple's defense, that it's not nearly as easy as it sounds. In OS X, the clipboard is actually fairly complex and can hold multiple versions of a given thing. For example, if you highlight a file in the Finder and copy it and then try to paste that in to TextEdit or BBEdit or another Finder location, what happens? In TextEdit, you get the contents of the file. In another Finder window, you get a copy of the file. In BBEdit, you get the name of the file.

Well, how does that work? When you copy a single thing, the Finder creates multiple versions of it behind-the-scenes. Whether you're dealing with graphics or text or music, there are multiple different versions things being copied, but not always the same versions (e.g., graphics don't have a "name.") When you request that an application paste something from the clipboard, it looks for the most likely version it can handle and uses it.

Now, scale that down to a phone and consider some of the issues that need to be figured out in an environment like the iPhone's. I don't think Apple's stalling or playing games when they say it's going to take some time to implement and I doubt if the UI is the biggest hurdle (which everyone seems overly focused on.) There's a lot to sort out, and if it's done wrong, it's going to cause more headaches than not having that feature at all.
 
Mazda 3s said:
Hmmm, sounds JUST like the first generation iPhone. But look what happened a year later for the iPhone!! Better corporate support, App Store, iTunes Music Store, etc.

It'd be great if people would give Google the same chance/opportunity, but I guess that's asking too much... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The iPhone is still lacking in the business functionality department, with the inability to edit/create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and the inability to email files (other than pictures).

This wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you could tether, but you can't (unless you were lucky to get NetShare).
 
  • The G1 is un-aesthetic. Not ugly, but not sleek. The flip design is intimidating, not as welcoming and easy to use as the iphone.
  • Calendars and Contacts are tied to Google. This brings up privacy issues since everything must be stored on Google servers. On the iPhone you can keep everything private and local.
  • When will they start putting Google ads on this thing, since it is a Google product?
  • No headphone jack.
  • With the movable swivel screen, it's going to be much easier to break.

I don't see this thing taking too many sales away from the iPhone. Perhaps if a sleeker, thinner, "Privacy-edition" comes out, maybe.
 
love the statement at the end LOL.

fat phil said:
-Video is supported by a (free) download from the marketplace.

-I'm sure the interface will be customised to hell in the first few weeks.

-"Just like the N95..." I've been watching my 3G iPhone crash from buggy marketplace apps ever since I bought it. You're in for a LONG wait if you think a Perfect World is about to descend upon us all...

Probably best not to throw rocks until you see a worthwhile crack to aim at.

Personally I think it looks like a turd, but then so does my mate's wife - but she's a great cook.
Click to expand...

ho ho ho.
 
Plutonius said:
Here is what you don't get. The labels are NOT letting Apple sell DRM free music. It is Apple's problem but the music will never be DRM free until the label's agree to it. You might as well keep buying from Amazon since the label's want Amazon to take business away from Apple and I can't see things changing.
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Why is everybody complaining about DRM instead of "no lossless tracks"?
 
bigwig said:
Why is everybody complaining about DRM instead of "no lossless tracks"?
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Hear, Hear! I'd take a DRM "crippled" lossless track over a DRM free lossy file any day.

In the meantime, I go back and forth. Amazon's DRM free tracks are appealling, but Apple will eventually get everything over to iTunes Plus, which will mean better fidelity. Anything I've bought from iTunes prior to that, I assume, will be eligible for an upgarde to a DRM-free Plus track.
 
Sky Blue said:
This phone is the Zune of smart phones.
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Oh, it won't be that bad...

More like the ubuntu of smartphones. Mostly working, most of the time, but subtly broken in many, minor, irritating ways that go mysteriously unsolved due to open source politics and mind-games.

Mark my words. You read it here first! :)
 
hmmm

Not overly impressed. Still...it is the first one.

Let's hope that this first effort is like the what the Motorola ROKR was to the Apple phone aspirations.
 
wow...i like it...just wished it looked better and had better features as the iphone.. haha

ill like to see what other phones they'll bring out for iphones competition
 
Wow! A touchscreen phone with:

an app store
a music store
a media player
an accelerometer
"swipe" gestures to change between home pages
google maps
sub- $200 entry point



Remind you of anything?
 
I really wanted to get the new G1 phone because honestly, I'm getting tired of the iPhone. I was hoping it would have much better features than it has...oh well, guess I'll have to wait for a future Android phone that will give the iPhone a run for its money. :(
 
nos said:
They just have no style! :D
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They're just UGLY!!!
Not that I care, but I was expecting better from Google.
I always thought that their Google search page was kindda ok looking, but I put it on the 'cool' factor, thinking that it was intentionally that way. In fact it was not... Google people ARE geeks...
 
Did someone find an old Palm Pilot and put new software on it? Fugly.

For everybody who thinks that some open-source operating system is going to revolutionize the cell phone industry, I have one word: Linux. It may or may not be better than Windows and Mac OS, but I don't know anybody who isn't a fellow uber nerd who has Linux. The phone platform is a little different since it doesn't take a huge company to develop software for it, but Apple already has a huge leg up on that and, well, who has T-Mobile? AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint are the big boys in the US. T-Mobile kinda wants to be. Had this been done on Verizon or Sprint, I could see some potential. But alas, nope.

As for the whiners who point out that it has cut & paste: does it have an iPod built in? Nope. Epic fail. Don't go telling me it'll have some also-ran media player in there. This will likely cut into the BlackBerry segment a bit, but BlackBerry and iPhone will be the it devices.
 
Foxer said:
Hear, Hear! I'd take a DRM "crippled" lossless track over a DRM free lossy file any day.

In the meantime, I go back and forth. Amazon's DRM free tracks are appealling, but Apple will eventually get everything over to iTunes Plus, which will mean better fidelity. Anything I've bought from iTunes prior to that, I assume, will be eligible for an upgarde to a DRM-free Plus track.
Click to expand...

Unless I'm mistaken, aren't iTunes Plus songs still lossy? I tried ripping a CD in the Apple Lossless format once and they took up a TON of space (maybe 75% of a completely uncompressed file). I think iTunes Plus is 192kbps AAC whereas Amazon is 256kbps MP3.

I don't hold that same hope for DRM-free songs on iTunes. I especially don't appreciate the 30 cents they want to charge for upgrading when the songs are THE SAME PRICE NOW. I'm really glad that Amazon is figuring out this digital audio business so it will push Apple to be better.
 
cal6n said:
Oh, it won't be that bad...

More like the ubuntu of smartphones. Mostly working, most of the time, but subtly broken in many, minor, irritating ways that go mysteriously unsolved due to open source politics and mind-games.

Mark my words. You read it here first! :)
Click to expand...

I've been saying this all along so no, you didn't read it here first. :p
 
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