18 replies to this topic

[PaulOBrien]

If you like your devices smart, then the market has never been better for choosing a new device. As well as the large range of WinMo devices, (not so) new pretenders to the throne such as the iPhone and now the Google Android based G1 are now part of the picture.

Despite my use of WinMo as my main device (it suits me just right!), I like to keep up with what's happening elsewhere... hence I have an iPhone now and have just today acquired a G1.

I know i'm not the only one who's interested in other devices, so i've unboxed my white UK G1 on camera (and i'm taking questions), and MoDaCo member acbanks has done the same with his black US G1. So, if you're interested in the device, come question myself or Tony!

If you already HAVE a G1, head on over to http://android.modaco.com too and help this n00b out...

P

[My unboxing included below too...!]

[fatbutcher]

I have a question...what happes when you open text message and type 'reboot'

[penguin]

fatbutcher, on Nov 11 2008, 23:47, said:

I have a question...what happes when you open text message and type 'reboot'

lol

[finisterre]

Any news on TomTom or Exchange syncing over the air?

Can't consider it until these two are available.

[PaulOBrien]

Neither available currently, lack of Exchange is a big killer for me...

P

[The Hammer]

Agree with Paul,

I dont know why Google and T-Mobile did not consider Exchange for business users, that in itself is a disappointment, however, email does not work correctly and has some serious usability problems. I really thought Google would be smart enough to understand that more and more people are becoming reliant on email and expect it to function without any serious problems, however, this is not the case.

A couple of email problems:

Size of email can not be determined, you have to download the full msg, heck you might be downloading a large email as you can not restrict the email size

At the current moment, PDFs, Doc, XLS and other files can not be opened, its struggling with email attachments as pictures as well

Want to save a pic in MM format, dont bother as this can not be saved yet

If your read a msg in the inbox, read another email msg and then refresh the inbox to see if any new email has arrived, all previous emails will have the tag as not read

Currently not able to handle email signatures, I mean for Gods sake Google sort it out, this is the basics.

Killer email function, NO EXCHANGE connectivity

Killer email function 2, Useability is really poor

Killer email function 3, Phone has a tendancy to display connection error, and trying to resolve this with T-Mobile will only get your head in a spin.

In short, if you are dependant on email, I would hold off purchasing the G1.

Speak soon,

H

[fatbutcher]

I must be missing something!!  I don't get who's stiring up excitement in this phone?  

It looks rubbish, Its buggy, and appears to lack basic features to make it a serious working phone contender.  Even the iphone/ipod touch makes quite a good stab at being an Exchange mobile device (ignoring lack of cut'n'paste, not being able to send contacts etc).

I understand its a new OS and device and it needs time to mature, but they could really do with making it do something special and useful.  

Maybe a Lotus Notes client  

Edited by fatbutcher, 13 November 2008 - 12:40 AM.

[James]

Thats one ugly phone

(thats all i have to say on the matter)

[Chaser81]

Must admit, even though there appear to be issues with the G1; having seen one in the flesh now I am really tempted and I dont really know why!! Must be the gadget lover in me! "Oooh! Shiney!"

[T39andcounting]

Chaser81, on Nov 13 2008, 11:58, said:

Must admit, even though there appear to be issues with the G1; having seen one in the flesh now I am really tempted and I dont really know why!! Must be the gadget lover in me! "Oooh! Shiney!"

I must admit I'm with Chaser81 on this. I had a play in the T mobile store, and from that 10 min fiddle it really looks slick... they've achieved the look of a modern UI in the same way that the iPhone has, but no WM I've seen so far has.

That said, it's Google, so it's effectively in beta for the rest of it's working life, so my expectation is that it won't work properly and/or be missing key features for a while yet. Once again a high tech brand has tried to change the way the mobile operators work by, erm, pandering to the operators!

[PaulOBrien]

Just arranged to return mine...

P

[T39andcounting]

Paul (MVP), on Nov 13 2008, 15:41, said:

Just arranged to return mine...

P

Do we get an un-unboxing video showing you hard resetting it and taking it to the post office? ;-)

[PaulOBrien]

Surely that's a boxing video?

P

[WearTheFoxHat]

That's your shortest handset ownership EVER!

[fatbutcher]

Paul (MVP), on Nov 13 2008, 16:41, said:

Just arranged to return mine...

P

Is this your review of the phone?  If it is, it tells me everything I need to know!

[PaulOBrien]

Er, pretty much I think... IF you are a serious user of Google users (GMail etc.) it might work better for you...

P

[Monolithix]

Having recently set up one of my domains to point at google hosted apps I can see the appeal of the G1, and I *am* tempted.  I think the hardware is still a bit v1 though (and did so even before Balmer put his ore in ;p).

If it didn't require a mehish 18 month contract, or T-Mobile, then i'd be more tempted.  Roll on the next one though imho!

[Mysterious Stranger]

Monolithix, on Nov 18 2008, 11:16, said:

If it didn't require a mehish 18 month contract, or T-Mobile, then i'd be more tempted.

US units *from t-mobile* $399 w/o service i.e sim free but network locked ( works with most worldwide t-mobile networks without unlocking). Unlock code $20 = TCO of about £280.
Not as bad as £40/month x 18 months = £720.....

M.S

[Croccy22]

Well since I have had a G1 in my posession for a week now I thought i'd give my opinions on it.

I LOVE IT!!

I've been a windows mobile user ever since the first day the original SPV came out, I have owned pretty much every generation on device since that day, many of the orignal SPV owners will recognise me as a developer for the Windows Mobile platform (Smartanoid amonst others).

So why do I prefer the Android operating system?

Well it's simple. As a developer I can actually use all the features of the phone. The accelerometer, the gps, the camera, the internet, even text messaging and making phonecalls are all available to the developer within a couple of lines of code! A while ago I wrote a simple app that read the values from a bluetooth GPS on the C500, it worked fine but involved a page of code, The android allows me to do everything that application had to offer in a few lines.

I know the operating system has a few bugs in it at the moment, but again I see the positive side of this. Windows Mobile has bugs too, and what happens when someone finds one? Microsoft make a fix (After a few months), A new firmware is created (A few months later), orange sit down for a few months and brand the firmware, orange release a firmware update (by this time the phone is obsolete and has been replaced by something new!).

The android OS is open source. It will be continuously worked on by many developers and Google will be working very hard to increase it's reliability and functionality. And with over the air updates, as soon as they have something good to show us, they will just push it out, Brilliant!!.

And then there is the Market Place. Yes there are hundreds of apps available for the windows mobile phones, but they are scattered far and wide. I never seem to be able to find the application I want when looking for windows mobile stuff, I guess this is partly the reason why I wrote my own stuff! The Google Market Place provides a central place to find all the applications you could possibly want. And from a developers point of view it is excellent. A couple of days ago I wront a simple snow globe application for the G1, animated snow, music, motion control etc. I published it to the Market Place to see what the procedure was like.

I compiled the application, Self signed it (Don't need to pay to have it officially signed like on windows mobile), Signed up for a developer account (Cost $25, one time fee!), Uploaded my app. Instantly my application was available to everyone in the world who has an android phone. Just a few days later my simple app has had 18,000 downloads!!!! 18,000. I cannot believe it!!

Early next year Google are going to allow developers charge for their applications, as a developer you will get 70% of the revenue (not a bad deal). This will certainly give people motivation to code some brilliant apps and games. Just the fact that I can write my game and get it on the market without having to deal with distributers etc.

So in conclusion. Yes this OS is in it's infancy but I seriously think it will turn into a great community just as Windows Mobile has.

Open source Folks, it's the future!   no restictions, no licence issues when writing your own games (e.g don't have to pay for a graphics library to make your game easier to write as it's already built in for free).

Look forward to seeing the modaco android community grow!

Matt, Croccy22.