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Android next week!?  (View post)

DPic [PersonRank 10]

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
15 years ago15,884 views

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/09/first-android-phone-will-be-launched.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122150409898737579.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Will this be available at any T-mobile store in the US next week? or just demoed and then we have to wait a month to see it locally?

TOMHTML [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I wouldn't pay for a phone in "beta" version, maybe full with bugs, etc.. and you?

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]TOMHTML: If it's open source, I'm happy to pay for beta. Even if Google doesn't fix the flaws, someone else can.

My current phone has annoying glitches in the software. It's not called "beta", but the quality is no better than any beta released by Google. It's closed-source from LG, who have never released a firmware upgrade for this phone and probably never will.

On the other hand, I also have a Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, which is almost entirely open source (Maemo, Mozilla Mobile, etc). It's two years old, but as a result of ongoing free upgrades it's a much better device than it was when I bought it. It's a delightful counter-example to planned obsolescence.

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I'd gladly pay for the phone running beta android software. I'm sure they have very high standards for a final release (GMail is still in Beta!) and the software can be updated. Like Roger said, this phone running beta software will probably be a lot better than other phones.

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

If it can really compete with the iPhone, do you think it will be good to use as a portable media player? I wonder how long the battery lasts. Anybody know how long the iPhone battery lasts while listening to music? I also wonder how much storage the phone will have. Well, Android is a platform so i'm sure a phone with this kind of capabilities running android is not far away if it isn't this first phone

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]DPic

iPhone audio playback: Up to 24 hours according to apple.com

Sudden thought: Will anyone hack Android ONTO Phone :D

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

does apple specify the volume level? If the HTC Dream was anywhere between 12 and 24 with audio playback i'd be satisfied. My ipods only last an hour or two (running rockbox).

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Well, the conditions of the test as losted on apple's website is

<<Testing conducted by Apple in May and June 2008 using preproduction iPhone 3G units and software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks, a combination of content imported from CDs using iTunes (128-Kbps AAC encoding) and content purchased from the iTunes Store (128-Kbps AAC encoding). All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; the Wi-Fi feature Ask to Join Networks was turned off. Wi-Fi was enabled but not associated with a network. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary.>>

One thing stands out to me...Preproduction?

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Yeah i just found that after i made my post...seems like Apple could ave easily slanted the tests in their favor. They don't specify the volume of the tracks or anything. What if they were just quiet songs and/or played at a very low volume? What if these "preproduction" models were designed for better battery life?

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Also, just noticed on Safari's page the testing conditions state

<...Testing conducted with a beta version of Safari; all other browsers were shipping versions. Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection, and other factors....>

Seems to be apple's common practice

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Found some rumored HTC Dream G1 specs:
http://www.livecrunch.com/2008/08/27/htc-dream-g1-specs-and-review/

   * 528Mhz Qualcomm 7201 processor
   * Data kit for USB connectivity in the box
   * 64MB Internal RAM
   * 128MB Internal ROM
   * 1GB MicroSD card
   * 5 Row QWERTY keypad
   * Trackball
   * Dedicated camera button
   * 3.1MP camera (no flash) 2048 x 1536
   * Video playback files – H.264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and Codec 3GP
   * Dedicated YouTube Player
   * Audio playback files – MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, MPEG4, WAV, MIDI, REAL AUDIO, OGG
   * Wallpaper supports JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF
   * Speakerphone (mono, natch)
   * Ringtones (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA)
   * HTTP, WAP Push, xHTML
   * Bluetooth (class 1)
   * Picture Caller ID

   * SMS and MMS support (Take that Apple!)
   * POP, IMAP, and SMTP, AOL, and GMAIL email
   * AIM, MSN, YAHOO, and GTALK messaging
   * Quad Band (850, 900, 1800, 1900)
   * 3G
   * 802.11b & 802.11g
   * UMTS (1,4), HSDPA, SUPL
   * 1150mAh battery
   * Screen size is 3.17? with HVGA (480 x 320)
   * Handset 117 x 55 x 16mm
   * 5.6 oz weight
   * Sync capable with Google Calendar
   * Downloadable content via Android Marketplace
   * Google Streetview with built-in compass

It can play vorbis but can't be set as a ringtone!? What about playing theora and FLAC? No SVG wallpapers?

Is the 1GB microSD card the only storage? Does that mean you could buy an 8gb Micro SDHC card to have the same storage as an iphone? (iphone comes in 8 or 16GB, right?

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

That post linked to http://androidguys.com/2008/08/26/no-more-speculation-this-is-the-g1-from-t-mobile/ for the specs but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. Also, it's hosted on a microsoft server haha

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[Moved from "Google handset w/ Android debuts Sep. 23 in New York" – Tony]

The Guardian/UK reports today: Google launches its long-awaited mobile phone handset tomorrow in New York, with T-Mobile as first network operator.

"Called the G1, the new phone is made by Taiwan's HTC and presents a direct challenge to Apple's iPhone and the dominance of the world's largest mobile phone maker, Nokia. The new handset – which is likely to be characterised as the first G-phone – has a touchscreen like the iPhone but includes a slide-out Qwerty keypad. The phone has previously been referred to as the HTC Dream and the 'Kila', the project name given by T-Mobile and a reference to the network's hope that it will prove an effective weapon against the iPhone."

[more]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/22/google.mobilephones

[largely about Android]
http://www.google.com/search?q=gphone

[speculative/ fake pictures of]
http://images.google.com/images?q=gphone

[renderings of HTC Dream]
http://images.google.com/images?q=htc.dream

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

DPic asks will it be able to compete with iPhone. It's early days yet, but I think we should be glad if Android is still around in somehow usable shape couple of years from now.... the graveyards of consumer electronics industry are filled with failed "cooperative" consortium standards projects, so why should Open Handset Alliance's be any more lucky?

In comparison, Apple's iPhone, whatever its shortcomings, by and large profits from single-source closed-platform control over both hardware, firmware and user application software.

Neither of that [= level of quality-assurance control] is present in OHA's case.... so in the end each Android developer will have to choose to write to some clearly-defined subset of the coming/ future handset market. So already there there's no economy of scale as in Apple's case.

Frankly, it'd have been better for Google to have defined a narrow reference Android hardware/ firmware platform for a start, and only relax/ extend it once it has taken off the drawing board....

[Sorry for post move; I did search BG for "gphone" and "iPhone" prior to posting as new thread, but nothing stood out]

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

This is from a press release I got as mail (URLs linked):

<<T-Mobile to Unveil First Android Phone
  
  
What: Press conference featuring T-Mobile and Google executives announcing and unveiling the first phone powered by Android.
  
When: Tuesday, September 23, 2008
10:30 a.m. EDT
  
Where: Live Web cast of the event in New York City will be available at http://www.T-MobileG1.com/announcement. This link will be live at least two hours prior to the start of the press conference. A replay of the Web cast will be available following the end of the press conference.
  
Visuals: Broadcast standard video and still images of the phone, and other content will be available for media at http://www.thenewsmarket.com/t-mobile following the Web cast. Registration and access to video and images is free to the media.>>

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Damn! That's when my first class starts tomorrow!

I like this article on the potential of Android. http://androidguys.com/?p=1657

I really hope GrandCentral gets an awesome upgrade to go with the release of Android. Imagine Google Talk using GrandCentral and being able to make calls to phones or gtalk users. Contacts would all be shared and this could make conference calling really easy.

Am i the only one who's super-pumped for this?! I just can't decide whether i should get the G1 or wait for a better phone. I'm sure a lot of effort has to have been put into this first phone so how long will it be until a better one comes out? Right now i'm currently planning on getting the G1 (HTC Dream). I guess i'll be more sure when i see if it actually delivers-- it'd better.

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Yeah, super-pumped-up, that's what you are. Personally, in matters where I don't ever aspire to become an expert, I tend to listen to voices of critical wisdom, such as that of Daniel Eran Dilger's:

"[...] Android Market will burn things down by trying to deliver software in the security free model of YouTube. [...] Google has simply (and negligently) decided to sidestep the complex issue of platform security by not having any, just like Microsoft did in the 90s. [...] Google is set to burst on the scene with a new phone that purports to do everything the iPhone can and more: run all sorts of crazy apps developers can think of with no authoritarian restrictions on spyware, performance sapping background activities, or human interface guidelines like those from Apple, no burdensome infrastructure providing the $40 million monthly development incentive of the Apps Store, no pesky certificates that prevent pandemic malware distribution, and no lever to pull to stop an epidemic once it breaks out. This is insane. [...]"
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/09/23/googles-android-platform-faces-five-tough-obstacles/

Reto Meier [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

By this logic Windows and Linux (that let people write, distribute, and install whatever applications they want) were 'insane'.

Could you imagine what the computing landscape would look like if the only way to distribute applications was to have them authorized by the platform they were running on?

Imagine the Internet if you needed to get your ISPs permission to host a web application. Now imagine if there were only 3 or 4 ISPs and you couldn't host your own server. Does that sound appealing?

To derride Android as being akin to Microsoft of the 90s is a strawman. Does the writer of this article think that the explosion in computing we experienced in the 90s is entirely coincidental to the openness, and popularity, of Windows programming?

Reto Meier [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

(On another note: yes. Very excited to see what they've got. Can't wait to start using one of these suckers).

WebSonic.nl [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Another URL for the press conference is already live,

http://announcement.t-mobileg1.com/

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Google Operating System post http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/09/android-makes-its-debut.html

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Actually, Reto, you sort-of answered your own, largely rhetorical and somewhat demagogical, question already (no offence intended, jus' making conversation). Neither Windows, nor Linux are primarily methods/ modes/ channels of software distribution, they have specific other main functions (neither is that raïson d'être of Android or Mac OSX/ Cocoa Touch environs). But their differing philosophies of how apps get to enter target platform are of utmost importance to us all. That's what DED spoke about, threat-levels and -combat strategies to ensure well-functioning of the device. The margins for tolerance of "errors" are simply far narrower in the case of phones.

20 years ago, give or take a few months, the first Usenet SPAM appeared (the infamous Canter/ Siegel Green Card legal services offer submitted in a stupid --not even crossposted-- manner to some 300 groups), yet by and large we failed to understand what that signified – the arrival, in less than a decade's time, of email spam-as-the-real-Internet-killer-app. And now, on the eve of opening up the gates to over-the-air distribution to a far larger, and far more vulnerable, electronic domain (there are more >1 billion mobile phones in use, one for each 6-something person on Earth; each one by definiton electronically connected. I rather doubt there are third that many networked computers, and yet quite a share of those already are infected with malware).

So there *IS* a vast degree of vulnerability between the domains of computers[put at-character here]large, and those of pocket/ mobile/ phone devices – where infection/ unfriendly pwnage of the latter potentially carries far greater risks and penalties for the user, than where desk-tethered hardware is involved.

> By this logic Windows and Linux (that let people write, distribute,
> and install whatever applications they want) were 'insane'.

> Could you imagine what the computing landscape would look
> like if the only way to distribute applications was to have them
> authorized by the platform they were running on?

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Google presents some of the Google apps on Android:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7qbPa1O8Ys

The accompanying site:

http://www.google.com/mobile/android/

Abhisshek [PersonRank 3]

15 years ago #

[Moved]

T-Mobile G1 Released Full Details of the Google Android HTC Dream Phone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inRMILwJa-U

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

So what does everyone think? This is about what i was expecting-- i think i'll buy it.

This doesn't have to do with Android but i don't like it: "Data: If your total data usage in any billing cycle is more than 1GB, your data throughput for the remainder of that cycle may be reduced to 50 kbps or less. Your data session, plan, or service may be suspended, terminated, or restricted for significant roaming or if you use your service in a way that interferes with our network or ability to provide quality service to other users."

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Looks really cool, plus the ad definitely lives up to Apple standards. I'm buying it when it hits our shores.

Ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZHgZr3SXCA

Above 27 comments were made in the forum before this was blogged,

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

(Edit: Added link to the video tour. Linked to photo showing back of the phone.)

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

No grandcentral update :(
At least contacts are saved to gmail i guess.

Andrew DeFaria [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

OK, I'm stumped! How am I supposed to get my MP3's and podcasts on this gphone?

Ionut Alex. Chitu [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I think that an interesting side-effect for this release is that GTalk will soon connect to Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger, like the IM client from Android.

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Very uninspiring. The screen is smaller than that of the iPhone. The bent-out "chin" at the bottom makes it less pocketable. The keyboard doesn't use the full width of the device (because the chin doesn't move), so the keys are smaller than they need to be.

The Android software might be open, but this implementation of it isn't. Even tethering has been disabled by T-Mobile.

And I gotta say, the phone looks a bit like the nurse call button at a hospital. Look how cool the concept sketches looked, compared to what we ended up with:

http://androidnews.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/htc-android-dream.jpg

This version should have been marketed as the "developers' version", with the consumer version to follow.

I even wonder if HTC didn't purposely make the Android phone inferior to their own-branded phones. I mean, look at this other phone that HTC announced this week (the HTC Touch HD):

http://asia.cnet.com/i/r/2008/hh/62046338/touchhd2_sc.jpg

If you put open-source software (Android, Maemo or Symbian) on a phone like that, I'd buy it. But the G1? Impressively unimpressive.

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]Roger: wonder no more – there was no conspiracy to make G1 less impressive than HTC's own flagship Touch HD project, simply no Steve Jobs-equivalent around to shepherd his/her vision through. Both projects must've been in development for at least a year, probably quite unknown internally to one another, and most likely developed at different locations. So there was no cross-polination of ideas between the teams. HTC lives off selling OEM products with "mature" Windoze Mobile onboard, so it's quite uderstandable that they paid more attention to the Touch, than to some new, hyped-up entrant in their marketspace. On the other hand – no, I don't think you'd buy the HD even with Android on it – not for close to US$1000 that it's going to cost, as opposed to mere $179 for the G1. Yes, unimpressive for a cellphone, but one G1ant leap for humankind over OpenMoko nevertheless....

(and don't be shy, tell us all your wet nurse dreams, call buttons optional! ;-))

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I think complaints against the G1 concerning the smaller screen than the iphone and the curve are silly. It's not supposed to just be a copy of the iPhone-- this was all intentional. They could've made it one big touchscreen like the iPhone, but they didn't. I think this makes the phone more well rounded and able to compete with more than just the iPhone.

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Of all Android/G1-related posts I read today, this seems to me-loves-a-good-putdown to be closest to the core:

» Apparently some sort of "iPhone killer" was launched today; but for the life of me I can't work up the motivation to read about it. Someone page me when I'm supposed to care. «
http://www.theangrydrunk.com/2008/09/23/iphone-killah/

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Is this just a case of everybody expecting something different? The G1 delivers exactly what i expected (with the exception of a grandcentral update and integration-- why didn't anyone ask about that at the press conference!) but everyone's like it's not an iPhone! Well, i mean, no shit haha. It's not supposed to be an iPhone... Too much hype, perhaps?

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Here's HTC's page: http://www.htc.com/www/product/g1/overview.html

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

DPic wrote:
> I think complaints against the G1 concerning the smaller screen
> than the iphone and the curve are silly. It's not supposed to just
> be a copy of the iPhone

The point is that it's supposed to be usable for web browsing, and screen size really makes a difference for that. If you need to keep scrolling within a tiny space, web browsing becomes fairly unusable. Although many current phones can nominally browse the web, the iPhone actually gets used for that much more than the others.

Even then, for real web work, the iPhone is marginal. No copy-and-paste is the killer for me.

I don't own a laptop. When I travel, I need to use the web, including pasting text into PayPal refund notices. WiFi is not always available. Most phones display the PayPal mobile site, which is so dumbed down that it doesn't even enable refunds to be processed. Smarter phones will display "real" websites, but with such a tiny screen that it's impractical to use.

The solution I use is a "dumb phone" which connects by bluetooth to a Nokia N800 internet tablet. This has a 4.1 inch 800x480 pixel screen, and a Mozilla-based browser. That is enough to do real internet work (and I can even ssh into my webserver).

It's two devices to carry, and two devices to keep charged. But I can't say strongly enough that once you've tasted real mobile internet, it's hard to settle for a phone that doesn't support it. If the G1 was good at web browsing, it wouldn't need specialized clients for Gmail, Maps etc, it could just use the real web versions like I do on the N800.

I really had hoped that the first Android phone might be viable for serious web browsing. Nevermind, I'm sure we'll see such things in 2009.

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Ianf wrote:
> I don't think you'd buy the HD even with Android on it – not for
> close to US$1000 that it's going to cost, as opposed to mere
> $179 for the G1.

It makes no sense to compare the retail price of one phone, with the bundled price of another (since the G1 is only sold for $179 in conjunction with an expensive contract).

In the UK, the real price of the HTC Touch HD, unlocked and without a contract, is £515. The HTC G1, without a contract but probably still locked to T-mobile, is £350.

In the UK, the G1 will be free with a £40 contract. Assuming that's for two years, that's £960. I could buy an HTC Touch HD for £515, plus my phone calls and data usage for two years on pay-as-you-go for another £100, for a total of £615. That's less than a pound per day, and I would certainly pay that if the Touch HD was running Maemo with Mozilla.

> there was no conspiracy to make G1 less impressive than
> HTC's own flagship Touch HD project, simply no Steve
> Jobs-equivalent around to shepherd his/her vision through

Ain't that the truth!

But Google normally makes up for that with oodles of functionality, and I don't see that they've done that here.

cormac [PersonRank 3]

15 years ago #

That's a very ugly phone (I do realise there are other factors to consider when purchasing a phone). From a design point of view it looks like where Nokia were at about 10 years ago.

Dave Shaw [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

[moved from "Googler reveals GPhone design is years old"]

"It’s funny – but the first time I heard about Android was about 2.5 years ago, when Eric Schmidt told me about the device at Stanford after I got a job offer from Google (yet before I accepted it!). Since then I have seen many iterations of the software. The software. Not the device itself, because sadly it hasn’t changed in many years. The reason many people see the phone as ugly and old-fashioned is simply… because it IS! It’s a design unchanged for at least two years, without iterations on it besides color schemas (it’s now available in Zune-brown along with white and black) and the silly ‘with Google’ description on the back. Don’t ask me what ‘with Google’ means. I didn’t understand it back then and still don’t understand it today."

http://blog.ulfw.com/2008/09/android-why-art-thou/

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Damn this global novelty of "the Internet"! It used to take months to get a letter across the Atlantic with the Spanish Armada; then comfortable few weeks with a clipper; then mere days with a steamship, and finally hours with jumbojet. Now we're down to seconds, if not negative time ranges altogether. Hardly a moment went by when the above item (posted by Dave Shaw, but not attributed explicitly to its author Ulf Waschbusch) got picked up and commented further upon by Mike Arrington of TechCrunch. Only now do we get to find out who the critic really is: "Ulf received his MBA at Stanford University in 2006 and until recently worked at Google in Mountain View, CA as a Product Marketing Manager for Google Mobile. He now joined MySpace to run their mobile product operations."
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/24/ex-google-mobile-product-manager-criticizes-android/

Here, have a black banana.
http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/android-black.png

Ionut Alex. Chitu [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I didn't understand something: do you need to have a Gmail account to use the phone or just to launch some of the applications? T-Mobile's press release mentioned the Gmail account in the list of requirements, but I hope you can still use the phone without logging in to Gmail.

<< In another nod to Google, the G1 is being co-branded. The tagline: "G1 with Google."

Cole Brodman, T-Mobile's chief technology officer, says the carrier likes the association because, "Google is the face of the Internet." Brodman downplayed the Gmail requirement, noting that customers don't have to actually use it. "You just have to sign up."

Still, some may find the requirement "objectionable," says Morgan Gillis of LiMo, a global coalition that supports the idea of open-platform mobile phones. "This brings up a big question about freedom of choice." >>

(http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-09-23-google-phone_N.htm?csp=34)

Also:

<<It's never been easier to use Google on your phone. With single sign-in, you can log in to your Google account and have instant access to all your favorite Google products. No messing around with settings, your login never expires, and everything just works. If you don't have a Google account yet, you can set one up on your phone and be up and running in seconds.>>

(http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2008/09/google-on-android.html)

Tony Ruscoe [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I would guess that to use the "G1 with Google" (as it's branded) you would need a Gmail account. But to just use the "G1" you shouldn't need one. I don't see why you would need a Gmail account to use a mobile running an "open" operating system. But it makes complete sense that if you want to use Google's apps on the phone, you need a Gmail account.

However, if the pre-installed "Contacts" app (for example) is actually a "Google Contacts" app, I guess the phone would be pretty useless without a Gmail account...

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

> have instant access to all your favorite Google products ... your
> login never expires

I hope you can logout manually. Otherwise you can't lend your phone to someone to make a call, without them having access to Gmail and all your other Google stuff.

Ionut Alex. Chitu [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

In one of the promotional videos, I saw this screen:

" Welcome to T-Mobile G1

Sign in with your Google account:
..........................
By signing in, you agree to the Google and additional privacy policies.

[Back] [Sign in]"

It seems that you need a Google account, not a Gmail account.

Ionut Alex. Chitu [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Another issue:

<<Caps are nothing new to the world's 3G networks, but T-Mobile's being particularly stingy with the bytes – 1GB is all you get. Well, technically you can get more than that, but our friends in magenta are reserving the right to throttle you back to a stifling 50Kbps – virtually useless by smartphone standards, and less than what even a good EDGE network is capable of providing. That's going to be sour news to heavy G1 users, especially as Android touts its stellar connectivity, world-class browser, and a full suite of data-gorging apps.>>

(http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/09/23/t-mobile-soft-capping-3g-data-at-1gb-per-month/)

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

"Unlimited" is a misleading term when there is a LIMIT of 1GB. That really gets me. Also, battery doesn't last long enough for an iPhone replacement (340-400 minutes talking time).

Tony Ruscoe [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

> It seems that you need a Google account, not a Gmail account.

Can you maintain your contacts using a Google Account without Gmail enabled?

Tony Ruscoe [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I guess Ionut answer my last question here:

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/09/google-contacts.html

Juha-Matti Laurio [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

The G1 launch was covered at Bloomberg.com too:

Google, T-Mobile Unveil $179 G1, Challenging IPhone
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqp._xPUTfOM&refer=worldwide

david [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

i work at t-mobile and, to answer your questions about the G1 and Gmail, you DO need a Gmail account for the G1. but Gmail is free, so no worry's there.

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

They lifted the data cap!!! http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007798.html

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

<<http://blogoscoped.com/forum/140943.html#id141609>>

That's great news

My network doesn't have them, so I might buy this phone unlocked soon...

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Well my contract is up with my current network so i'll just be switching. Expect me at the T-Mobile store when it opens on the day the G1 comes out! Well, maybe i won't be that early, but i'll probably get it that day (unless of course seeing it and trying it makes me change my mind).

David Hetfield [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

What time is it?
http://f.nau.co.il/Upload2008/Upload/92008/Article/Article_Paragraph_Thumb_1986822.jpg

lol.. :P

David Hetfield [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

And the article:
http://gizmodo.com/5053734/how-many-google-phone-engineers-does-it-take-to-tell-the-time

Ianf [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

> The problem with the clocks would have never escaped Apple's
> ferocious attention to detail, but it is not the image itself that's
> so troubling. It is what it symbolizes, what is missing at
> Android's most fundamental level: Attention to detail.

That's pretty damning an opinion, isn't it? Justified, too, this no way to win the hearts and wallets of customers. Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo was too nice to call this camel Lemon, but I ain't one of the pretty ones.

Incidentially, Gizmodo's own backend botches up resolving of the referenced page by first redirecting it to

http://m.gizmodo.com/site?sid=gizmodo&pid=juicerHub&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgizmodo.com%2F%2F5053734%2Fhow-many-google-phone-engineers-does-it-take-to-tell-the-time%3Fop%3Dpost%26refId%3D5053734

and then "resolving it" as

"This site is temporarily not available. Please contact system administrator. (sid=gizmodo)."

So, if you're on a mobile or PDA, use this proxyfied address instead:

http://google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgizmodo.com%2F5053734%2Fhow-many-google-phone-engineers-does-it-take-to-tell-the-time

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

> The problem with the clocks would have never escaped Apple's
> ferocious attention to detail, but it is not the image itself that's
> so troubling.

Admittedly it's just the promotional image that's apparently wrong and nothing in the software. So whoever put together the promo didn't pay attention perhaps. Perhaps Apple wouldn't have made that mistake (I don't know, Apple seems to get their own share of "lack of attention" news – wasn't there recently an app they pulled which did nothing but charge people), but it would be more serious if it was an engineering problem...

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