Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2008 > September > 23 > Entry
The Google phone has landed
It seemed like forever (and two iPhone generations) since Google announced a platform for mobile phones called “Android.”
When they said it would be out in about a year, I mentally checked out and thought, “Great, let me know when you have something we can play with.”
The day has come. Today, T-Mobile and Google unveiled the G1 phone (previously known unofficially as “The G-Phone),” which runs the Android software and is a direct attack on Apple’s iPhone.
It costs $179 ($20 cheaper than the lowest-priced iPhone) and, not surprisingly, comes bundled with Google services like YouTube, Gmail and even Google Maps Street View.
Data plans will run $25-$35 and you can only get the phone for $179 with a two-year data and voice plan. You can get your hands on here starting Oct. 22. It’ll roll out in other countries in the months to follow.
Here’s what I like based on what I know so far:
- It’s got a full keyboard, accessible when you slide the top panel, similar to the Sidekick phone (a phone I’ve always secretly coveted).
- Street View will be very handy to have on the go.
- The Android platform could be the home of some very cool apps via the Android Market and seems much less restrictive to developers than the Apple App Store.
- Amazon’s MP3 store is built into the device and you can buy and download songs over Wi-Fi. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been buying DRM-free songs from the Amazon store much more often than I’ve been buying music from the Apple Store of late. This might be a great killer app.
- The phone’s design looks fairly clean and uncluttered, though it won’t win any beauty contests next to the iPhone or even some of the more recent Blackberry models.
- Over-the-air sync’ing. Yes! Awesome. But how well will it work? We’ll have to see.
- Expandable via micro-SD memory. Good move. I hate having to worry about filling up the memory on my phone.
What I don’t like so far:
- “Android Market” sounds like the place where you’d buy pleasurebots in “Blade Runner.”
- No headphone jack!?
- $25-$35 still feels like too much for a data plan, even if it’s 3G and even if it’s competitive with that AT&T and Apple charge on the 3G iPhone.
- The phone has a camera, but no video capability. Come on, Google. That’s just lame.
- If you really wanted to undercut the iPhone, you’d make it $99 or cheaper.
You can read more about the unveiling on Wired, see a hands-on preview at Engadget and some photos and videos below. Go Android crazy!
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Gadgets, Internet, Phones, Shopping
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By April
September 23, 2008 6:32 PM | Link to this
Apple does not have a patent on multi-touch devices. In fact, Apple applied for a trademark on the name "Multi-Touch" and was rejected. Apple also applied (about two years ago) for a patent on their implementation of multi-touch technology and, as of today, USPTO does not show that patent as having been granted.
By Omar Gallaga
September 23, 2008 4:28 PM | Link to this
I've seen miniSD cards at 16GB. I haven't heard that there's a limit on the size of card the G1 will recognize.
By chris
September 23, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this
No multi-touch due to Apple's patents, and apparently T-Mobile will throttle the data to 50kbps for the remainder of the billing cycle/month if you use more than 1GB of data transfer before a given billing cycle ends. Disappointed with the G1 so far.
By bunnyhero
September 23, 2008 3:50 PM | Link to this
it also only comes with 1GB of storage, standard. expansion via SD maxes out at 8GB, but of course one could swap multiple cards.
By Jamie
September 23, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
That thing is hideous! I'll stick with my iPhone, thanks.
By njharman
September 23, 2008 1:55 PM | Link to this
�Android Market� sounds like the place where you�d buy pleasurebots in �Blade Runner.�
Come on! How can you not like that.
No headphone jack is fail, though.
What I care about is how well the touchscreen works and if it's multitouch.