I won't beat around the bush - my first item is about the Google G1 - featuring Google Android!
The open-source software is just waiting to have hundreds of applications written for it. But aside from that - it's really, really well designed. It has a very responsive touchscreen - which doesn't feature multitouch - but that's OK. It's only really used for photos, anyway. For zooming, it has a function where you can hold your finger down on the "zoom" button - and it will zoom in.
When browsing through contacts, it snaps each contact into a grid, rather than flowing freely with the velocity at which the finger directed the list. I also noticed that when presented with some text, if you hold your finger down on it, it gives you the option to select all, copy, or cut the text - and if you have existing content on your clipboard, paste. Many features must be seen or used to be believed - there's no sense in going in too deep with detail.
That being said - here is a very concise, 33 second video from HTC showing off its functionality:
FYI, that barcode scanner is NOT a first - Nokia had it in as early as the N90 - which has been around since mid-2005.
They did an AMAZING job on Google Earth
The browser supporting multiple windows is nothing special - Apple had it in the iPhone (and yes, I will compare the two to death)
And I found the homescreen's panoramic ability to be a very visually pleasing feature.
This video gives a pretty accurate jist of what use is like.
One particular thing about this phone that stood out for me was the multi-input abilities - both for navigation, and text input. This is my primary beef with the iPhone - very difficult to type on, and touchscreen gets aggravating after a while. Closest thing to perfection I could find otherwise was the Samsung F520, having the keyboard, the touchscreen, and the optional hard navigation.
The G1 solves this, with both touchscreen and pearl navigation (and they did the pearl right on this one - much more restricted movement, as opposed to the loose pearl on the Blackberry 81XX, 82XX, 83XX, 88XX and 9000 series phones). The keyboard I didn't get to test out too well - but anything is better than touchscreen typing.
I think that by making the software open source, it is just asking for this phone to be hacked. Which can lead to viruses, software crashes, registry errors, and the likes. Phone viruses are not unheard of. Bitdefender even released their own mobile version of virus protection. That's probably making you frantic at the thought your phone could possibly have a virus - so I'll provide you with a link to download.com's download pages for it. They have it for Symbian (Nokia and Sony Ericsson) and Windows Mobile (you know who you are).
However, such can be used for the better, as proved with the iPhone with its App Store (definitely not with Installer on jailbroken iPhones. That was a wreck). It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see people trying to put BlackBerry OS, Vista, Ubuntu, or even desktop Mac OSX on there.
Now, for a very blunt comparison between the G1 and the iPhone. Head on, this is a graphical representation of their comparison:
What do I mean by this? Do they go together perfectly?
Quite possibly - but let's stick to monocellularity for now (those who use only one phone).
They're very similar phones - one has some things the others don't have. Be it multitouch for the iPhone, a hard keyboard for the G1, internal, flash memory for the iPhone, 3.2MP camera for the G1, etc. - but upon comparing the two - I found that the G1 filled in all the cracks the iPhone had, while dropping a few features in the pursuit of being professional.
That being said, my conclusion on the G1 is that it made a fabulous debut - but like all HTC phones out there, they are not sexy phones. This will not grab as large a market as the iPhone will, in my opinion, but it will be a hands down choice for those professional users that are tempted to get the iPhone, but have concerns that it won't work well for them as a BlackBerry substitution.
Summarized: The G1 is the geek version of the iPhone. From a consumer's point of view, it's literally a Mac vs PC comparison.
And right as I typed that - I thought to myself "why not write up a commercial for it?"
So here it is:
iPhone: I play music with coverflow, built in iTunes, have a multitouch interface, a built-in application store, internal memory, and millions of satisfied customers.
G1: *Sweating* I have a better battery life, and a built-in Amazon music store. That's just as good as your iTunes, right?
iPhone: *Plugs headphones in* I don't know. I'll listen to my music while you run and get your SD card with limited amounts of storage on it and slower data transfer rates with music that's in the MP3 format which is very susceptible to losses.
G1: *runs and gets SD card, iPhone is chilling, listening to music*
*starts playing music loudly over the speakers*
iPhone: *Unplugs headphones* Dude, why are you playing so loud? Put on your headphones!
G1: Well... I... uhh... kinda... can't.
iPhone: Why not? Are your headphones somewhere else? Here, I have an extra pair. Borrow these.
G1: I kind of don't have a headphone port...
Uh-oh... major flaw in the design.
Here is a comparison of the 2 phones, in case you're interested in statistically comparing them.
Significant difference in the battery life.
Now, what's stopping me from getting it, you ask?
I've had my iPhone for about 150 days now - and it's worked perfectly for me (and yes, I just calculated the exact amount of days with timeanddate.com's count up/count down feature - which is now making me slightly nervous, since nothing lasts forever - and this could be due for a mishap anytime soon). The main thing getting in the way of me getting the G1 phone (or any phone for that matter) - is the fact that it does not support iTunes music.
I purchase every song I own legally, through iTunes, as it has the best selection, and easiest to use interface. The only disadvantage is that the files are locked into the M4A format - which is only playable on Apple devices (or those phones that have iTunes on them, such as the Motorola ROKR, or any 8XXX series BlackBerry (except the 8700) upon being installed).
Since there are likely many people in my situation - why is it that iTunes can't be more widely available to other phone users? I could sure have used it on my e61i, on my Samsung Blackjack, and if I had a G1, certainly on that device as well. Not everybody can use Apple's hardware - but this is a fundamental marketing thing - to be able to get as much business and use of your product possible. You can't do that if you force people to buy your hardware. What about our CDMA customers that make up over half our cell phone market? You're under a legal obligation not to make CDMA iPhones - so don't you want people with Verizon, Bell, Telus, and even T-Mobile (although they're not CDMA, but they can't use iPhones) to be able to use iTunes and make you some money? So suppose one day they switch to AT&T (or Rogers or Fido in Canada) - don't you want the transition to Apple to be an easy one to make?
Don't want to go on too long of a ramble here. Especially about something not relevant to the G1.Something else I particularly liked about the phone were natively running Gmail and Youtube. Both being proprietary to Google, they can operate such applications better than anybody else. Being a very avid user of both, I would love to be able to get my hands on this phone.
So here's my Wired/Tired/Next steps/Bottom line
Wired: Google and HTC found what Apple did wrong with the iPhone and made it right. 3.2 Megapixel camera trumps majority of phone market. Has Wi-Fi. Has multiple methods of input. 406 hours of standby time speaks for itself.
Tired: Open source software is just waiting for problems. Little multimedia support, no onboard storage, and NO headphone jack.
Next steps: Definitely get some built in storage and a headphone jack. It may be a professional phone - but at least make it somewhat consumer friendly.
Bottom line: If you listen to music - don't get this phone. Assuming you don't listen to music - if you do a lot of keyboard activity and want an all around very cool phone - get this phone.
Do I recommend a data plan with this?
Not really. The wifi will help you out if you are in range of it, but if you need to have on-the-go data - do not short-change yourself. Considering there's Youtube, Push email, Google Earth, and an HTML browser are all present on this phone, I wouldn't recommend anything short of 1GB.
Here are some shots I got of the G1. This phone belongs to my buddy Vic - he got one a few days after it came out. He has a blog of his own - check it out!
Myself with the phone. Would have compared the G1 with my iPhone size-wise - but I had to use it for taking the pictures.
