Android and Me » htc g1

First impressions: T-Mobile G1 (three years later)

Chuck Falzone — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:30:01 +0000

Exactly three years ago, those who pre-ordered began receiving their T-Mobile G1′s, the little phone that started it all. I was lucky enough to be in that group. After spending several hours with the bronze-colored geegaw on October 20, 2008, I wrote up my breathless, geeked-out thoughts for my personal blog. It’s cute, I was excited about things like “a nice MySpace client.” For nostalgia’s sake, here are my first impressions of the good ol’ G1:

So I just lost the last several hours to playing around with my new Google phone (officially the T-Mobile G1, but I have a hard time not calling it the Google phone).

The UPS man about gave me a heart attack, leaving it sitting on the front porch, no signature needed apparently. I checked UPS tracking at work and saw DELIVERED, rushed home to get it on my lunch break.

I had to get the data plan set up on the right phone line so called in to T-Mobile on the way back to work…learned that the plan will not actually be in effect til the phone’s launch date, this Wednesday. I used this to convince myself it’d just be a brick til then, which allowed me to focus on work the rest of the day. But I powered it up when I got home: lo and behold, I was able to associate it with my gmail acct, make calls, even send and receive email. But nothing from the browser, maps, etc.

Then I switched on wifi– and everything worked.

The author, still giddy in November '08

My early report: it’s really great. As I said, it had me sucked in all night. It is truly a tiny little computer. I don’t have iPhone experience to compare it to, but the browser is functional, email really nice, and maps as cool as you expect. Downloaded a bunch of apps from the market (all free at this point), and while not all are great, some are really cool:

ShopSavvy, which lets you scan a barcode with the phone’s camera and then finds prices for the same item at online retailers
Bonsai Blast, an addicting little game
TuneWiki, a social music player
A nice MySpace client (hope Facebook is coming)
Locale, which automatically changes phone settings (e.g. ringer volume) based on your location (via GPS)

The keyboard is plenty roomy and I’m able to thumb around pretty easily and accurately.

I set up a shortcut to BeTwittered for use as a Twitter client. As it was designed to live in an iGoogle gadget, it works really well on the little mobile screen. It’ll be nice to have one that alerts me to incoming tweets, though. ‘Course I could set that up through SMS but this way I don’t have to use up my monthly allotment on them (I cheaped out and went with the 400/month plan instead of the unlimited messaging plan).

Quibbles:

The phone knows my email address; it’s registered to my gmail account; why can’t there be an easy, one button way to insert that address when an online form calls for it? Maybe there is and I haven’t found it (I, of course, have eschewed the manual so far).
It took me a while to find the Nice app for Google Reader. When I accessed it via my iGoogle page, it was all kinds of messed up. When I accessed it via the Google home page, it’s great. Not a big deal, as I can just bookmark it now, but still– why does it vary in the first place?

So, uhm, that’s my short little post on my first thoughts on the G1. Undoubtedly, more will follow.

Ah, those were heady times. The G1 ended up serving me well until I moved on to a Nexus One and I passed it on to a friend who is, no joke, still happily using it.

Whether you had one or not, what are your fond memories of the big-chinned little guy?

T-Mobile pulls the HTC G1 from their Android lineup

Nick Gray — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:14:10 +0000

Today marks the end of an era for Android. The HTC made T-Mobile G1 is no longer available from T-Mobile’s online store. Compared to today’s lineup for Android phones, the G1’s 528 MHz processor, 3.2 inch display, and Android 1.6 OS seem outdated and obsolete. With new phones like the HTC G1 Blaze set to replace the original, it was only a matter of time before T-Mobile decided to pull the plug on the G1. But let’s not forget that the G1 is the phone responsible for kicking off the Android revolution and lighting a spark in the hearts on the Android modding community.

The G1 was the first smartphone to actually rival the iPhone’s functionality, giving customers the option of an open OS. Nearly two years later, the G1 has proven to the world that an open OS is what the public really wants.

We’re pretty sure that most of you have owned a G1 at some point or another. Many of you have called it “the little phone that could” while others have complained about the phones low memory and abysmal performance. Feel free to share your thoughts, complaints, or favorite memories about your G1.

G1 owners still have a prayer for an official upgrade to Android 2.2

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:30:15 +0000

The G1 has already received Android 2.2 thanks to some hard working hackers, but there is still an outside chance that T-Mobile could upgrade the device over the air. Before I get your hopes up, just remember T-Mobile has the final say on firmware upgrades and their official response for the last couple of months has been, “We will let you know when we have more details to share”.

Buried inside the Froyo code drop post on the Android Developers Blog was the news that Google included all the configuration files necessary to build the source code of Android Open-Source Project on its own. Android engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru noted that, “You can now build and boot a fully open-source system image out of the box, for the emulator, as well as for Dream (ADP1), Sapphire (ADP2), and Passion (Nexus One).”

As many of your know, the G1 is the HTC Dream and the exact same hardware as the Android Developer Phone 1. Some developers have already reported success in building Android 2.2 for the Dream and we know the team behind CyanogenMod is also working on a port.

What I find most interesting is that those who built Android 2.2 from source were able to flash it on a Dream using any version of the secondary program loader (SPL). The most recent crop of custom Android 2.1 ROMs for Dream have required the DangerSPL, which rewrites the system partitions to address the device’s limited internal storage. Carrier builds are always larger than the builds from source code (because of all the extra apps), but it sounds possible that the G1 could fit Android 2.2 without modifying the SPL.

At the end of the day it’s T-Mobile’s call, but I don’t see them leaving behind the G1 owners just yet. Even though it is the oldest Android phone, the G1 appears technically able to run Android 2.2 at an acceptable performance level. In the mean time, keep an eye on HTC’s Developer Center in case they release the Android 2.2 system images for the ADP1.

Surely T-Mobile would have broken the bad news by now if they did not intend to upgrade the G1, right? Do you really think they kept you waiting all this time just to disappoint you?

QWERTY is king for U.S. Android buyers

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:45:39 +0000

What do the top three Android phones in the United States have in common? They all feature slide-out QWERTY keyboards. The recent trend from HTC and other handset makers has been towards the slim, slate form factor, but phones with a physical keyboard have proven to sell the most units so far.

Top 10 U.S. smartphones from AdMob.

A quick look at the top smartphones from the latest AdMob report shows the most popular three Android phones are the Motorola Droid, G1 (HTC Dream), and the Motorola CLIQ. Each phone has its own appeal, but they all share similar slide-out keyboards. The majority of Android owners have no clue what firmware their device is running and make their buying decision solely on looks.

I find it most interesting that the Motorola CLIQ appears to have out sold the myTouch 3G. T-Mobile launched the myTouch 3G first, heavily promoted it, and upgraded it to Android 1.6. The CLIQ went on sale several months later and only included Android 1.5, but it looks like more customers are choosing it based entirely on the form factor.

T-Mobile recognizes keyboards are still hot and it makes sense they are gearing up to make the myTouch 3G Slide one of their flagship phones this summer. Outside of that, there are not many options for new Android phones with keyboards coming to the U.S. LG might produce a Snapdragon slider later this year, but nothing official has been announced for the U.S. at this time.

I personally switched to the Nexus One earlier this year and I have adjusted to the virtual keypad quite well, but I still wish a physical keyboard was an option. Out of all the Android devices I’ve used over the last few years, the G1 still has the best keyboard layout in my opinion (5-row, big buttons, nice feedback). If someone releases a high-powered phone with a keyboard this year, that is likely my next purchase.

Which form factor do you prefer? Physical or virtual keyboard? If you have used multiple Android phones with keyboards, which did you like the most so far?

CyanogenMod brings Android 2.1 to G1 and myTouch 3G

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:22:16 +0000

If you have a hacked G1 or myTouch 3G, take note. Many developers have released custom ROMs based off Android 2.1 for the HTC Dream and Magic for awhile now, but most were not fully working. Devs had been waiting on updated hardware drivers which supported the Android 2.1 kernel and those were finally released earlier this month.

After several weeks of a lot of hard work, the team behind CyanogenMod is close to releasing a public beta of their latest ROM – version CM 5.0.7 Ds. The new ROM is finally using Android 2.1 and includes many of the enhancements found in the CyanogenMod for Nexus One.

As of this writing there are still a few bugs to work out, but look for a beta release tomorrow night.

Android 2.1 will fit onto the myTouch 3G (HTC Magic) with no problems, but it will not fit on the G1 (HTC Dream) without some modifications (damn those pesky storage limitations). G1 users must install the infamous DangerSPL which re-partitions the NAND flash inside the device. If you have never flashed the DangerSPL, the guys on the CyanogenMod forum are putting up a how-to guide.

First time hackers might just want to wait a few weeks and see what Google reveals at I/O on May 19-20. For all we know, Android 2.2 could magically appear for some first gen phones.

Our friend @kmobs is back with another video giving a quick walk through of the new test ROM on a G1. It looks like one of our shirts found its way to his desk.

For the latest on this CyanogenMod, visit the official site or follow @cyanogen on Twitter.

T-Mobile rolling out minor update to G1

Taylor Wimberly — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:58:07 +0000

TmoNews has posted a leaked memo that states G1 owners will begin receiving a minor over-the-air (OTA) update this week. The update (build number DMD64) focuses on improving call performance and does not include any additional fixes. These updates are normally rolled out on a staged schedule, so it could be a week before it hits everyone’s device.

Details of the update include:

This software update improves customers’ call performance only and does not include any additional feature enhancements.
The Android 1.6 DMD64 OTA will be sent to G1 customers only and will not be sent to customers using other Android devices at this time.

Leaked memo from TmoNews.

60 Screens From Rogers HTC G1 Android Phone

Taylor Wimberly — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:41:21 +0000

Haykuro, the 17 year old Android whiz, has done it again and released another coveted Android build. This time he has the Rogers HTC G1 a full day before the official release. I decided to flash the build and see what is different. In order to get this out as quick as possible, I decided to upload a bunch of screenshots to Flickr.

Screenshots of Rogers HTC G1 Build
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/35159454@N06/sets/72157619125688230/)

Notable updates include:

Microsoft Exchange Support
PDF Viewer
Quickoffice for MS docs
Full T9 support
and more

I have used the T9 keyboard for some texting and it works perfect. This is the T9 I have been screaming for ever since I first got my G1. Hopefully, this gets ported over to the official T-Mobile Android builds one day. The build also has a mini qwerty keypad as well.

PDF Viewer works with no issues. You can zoom, jump to new pages, and more. Again, this has been added to several of the other custom Android builds.

I tried the Quickoffice app and found it would only open older Microsoft Office files. Any of the newer docx files will not work. Once a file is open, you can only view it.

Looking to flash a custom build? Check out the Android ROM Build Information Database. As always, backup your data and use at your own risk.

If anyone has any special request for the Rogers build, I still have it loaded on my G1. Drop a comment or message me on Twitter @androidandme.

If you want to stay up to date on the latest Android leaks, be sure to follow @haykuro on Twitter.

[Via android-dls.com Thanks Justin]

Android Brings Freedom For All Devices

Alex Byrnes — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:20:16 +0000

A recent headline “BlackBerry Storm Transformed into Google Android, Sorta” got me thinking. No, it wasn’t that certain news outlets are click-mongering hope stealers. It was about the future of Android. First, that the idea of a phone having a semi-portable, nameable operating system is a breakthrough in itself. A few years ago, the idea that a phone had an operating system at all was a little strange sounding. “What do you mean ‘Download for UIQ phones?’” Or that you would install something “on” the phone at all. The phone was the phone, the buttons, the screen, the novel type of hinge. “Look at this hinge technology”, you’d say.

Apple Newton

We’re past all that of course. There wasn’t any doubt since the Newton that we’d get where we are today, but there still is this concept of the hardware and the software coming together as a package that should go to the same place the Newton went. The operating system and phone should be considered independent and hopefully, someday not long from now, will be.

There is a perfect analogy to this in the PC world: Linux (and Android is Linux). Linux goes on everything. When that gaming “rig” from ’99 stops being able to run current games, put Linux on it and use it for MythTV, or just Hulu, or checking your email and never getting a virus. Imagine the same system applied to cell phones. Don’t need your old phone? Put Android on it and make an imeem machine for your bedside! Or an alarm clock and imeem machine. Or an alarm clock with imeem and StreamFurious for listening to the news in the morning. You can forget about that recycling program at your local Circuit City Best Buy. Your phone is going to still be useful until something replaces alarm clocks and music. And why shouldn’t it be? You paid for it. It’s yours.

The Palm Treo. Great phone, and a very good OS for the time, but as soon as mine stopped being able to make phone calls, it stopped carrying its weight. Suddenly 6 ounces was a lot for a planner and to-do list. Now we’re getting to the point where the phone is almost beside the point. There is, after all, a machine called the iPod Touch, which, even though I don’t condone it, some people do own. This is an iPhone without the phone part. Yet somehow it remains useful. I know if I couldn’t make phone calls with my G1, I would probably still carry it around. I could still avoid getting lost, play music, and make lightsaber noises just like those iPod Touch users (whoever they may be). All the more reason for operating systems to be portable. It’s not a phone anymore!

And let’s not forget the fact that you may want to put Android on cutting edge hardware too. Take the Blackberry – pipe dream – example. Blackberry has great hardware. It fits your hand. The keys are big and tactile, and it’s got that great thumb wheel. Pop Android on there and you’ve got it all, the phone you want and the OS you love with all the software you bought over the course of years of ownership.

The Android on Blackberry scenario probably won’t happen anytime soon (prove me wrong kids!) but there is still a message here. We Android fans do not yet have great hardware. We have good hardware (G1), and we have the clunky , the fake , and the goodbye weekends!

This is not to say that the market is failing us. In fact, it’s working pretty well in every corner of the globe. It’s that we’re so antsy to have it all. Not only that, but wouldn’t it be terrible if a great OS never had a great home? There would be more than one gadget historian shaking his head in shame.

I say let the next Android come from RIM.

82 Reasons To Purchase an Android Phone. G1 for $97.99

Admin — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:28:07 +0000

Have you been debating on weather to purchase a G1 or wait for the next Android phone to come out? Amazon has just given you 82 reasons to reconsider as they are now offering the T-Mobile G1 for $97.99 with 2yr plan. The cheapest I have ever seen was $149.99 from Wal-Mart.

I was able to convert my brother from Cricket and his new phone is on the way. With the recent news that many Android devices were delayed to the end of 2009, this may be your best chance to own an Android phone. I challenge you to find a cheaper deal on the web.

Purchase your T-Mobile G1 for $97.99 now.

Join The Android Army

Google Android. So Easy A 1yr Old Can Do It.

Admin — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:09:16 +0000

Here is more proof I found on YouTube that demonstrates the ease of learning Google Android. “GJ” is only 21 months old, but already knows how to operate a T-Mobile G1. Watch as he launches apps and navigates the menus. After reading all the comments from users on the Android Market, I would say this kid is a genious. I don’t know the Guinness World Record for youngest txter, but I nominate this kid.