I have been playing with the T-Mobile G1 over the weekend. I am very impressed with the overall package. It feels sturdy in the hand and the touch screen is excellent. I dispensed with the manual and just got stuck in. The UI is very intuitive and within a few minutes of playing it you get an idea of what each button does and how to navigate around.
When you first switch it on you need to sign into your gmail account. If you don’t have one then you need to create a new one. Some people may be put off by this.
The handset has built-in wifi and GPS. You can connect to a wireless hub and use it for fast internet access. If you switch off the wifi antenna then android will use the phone network for subsequent internet access. Be warned though because both Wifi and GPS are power hungry and you will find that a fully charged battery will be nearly empty in a few hours.
The great thing about this phone is the seamless integration with Google apps. So if like me, you use gmail, maps, documents and calendar regularly then you will love this phone. Take the google maps application as an example. You can tell it to show your current location and then get directions from there. A large circle is shown if you are using the phone network to estimate your location but if you use the GPS then the positioning is much accurate and the circle is much smaller. To navigate around a map you simple slide your finger across the screen in the direction you wish to go. You can select satellite, traffic or street view modes just like the web browser version.
The web browser is nice but having seen the Iphone browser not quite as good. The browser supports javascripts but not Flash so you will find that BBC iplayer for instance does not work. Once you have opened a web page you can zoom in and out using controls at the bottom of the screen. In the corner is a magnification tool that lets you look around the page in detail and select the area you are interested in.
The physical window on the device is split into three virtual screens. To access a screen you slide your finger across, very much like the Apple iPhone. You can add shortcuts, applications or widgets to any of these screens. To move an item you press and hold it until there is a little buzz and the icon will appear slightly larger. When this happens you can move it around to a new location.
Android Market is a repository for third-party android applications. They are split into these categories :
- Communication
- Entertainment
- Finance
- Lifestyle
- Multimedia
- News and Weather
- Productivity
- Reference
- Shopping
- Social
- Tools
- Travel
- Demo
- Software Libaries
When you download an application android tells you which parts of the system it is allowed to ‘touch’, such as internet access or system settings. You can assess an application by looking at the number of times it has been downloaded and it’s rating. You can also look at the comments posted by other G1 owners who have downloaded the application.
So what applications have I found handy?
Power Manager – Alters the phone settings based on events such as battery low, battery powered, computer powered(via USB), browsing mode(keyboard open), initial settings(settings when the application was installed). Each event is configurable so for instance when the battery is less than 20 you can specifiy that the GPS, wifi, Bluetooth and cell location is turned off and the screen is dimmed. A brilliant application and one that replaces a gap in the standard Android OS.
The Weather Channel – Gives you weathers forecast based on your location using Google Maps. Each location can be saved once it has been setup. The forecast gives you the current, hourly, 36 hour and 10 day forecasts.
Toggle GPS – Allows you to quickly switch on/off the GPS. Saves you having to navigate to the settings menu.
Telegraph – Up to date news for the UK and the world. Come on BBC where is your offering!!!
Toddler Lock – Great if you have children. Locks ALL keys and plays tinkling bells and draws coloured shapes when the screen is touched or a button is pressed
Compare Everywhere – Turns the G1 into a barcode scanner. Once an item is scanned it connects to a database to get you the best prices. Very clever idea. If an item doesn’t exist you can add it.
My Maps Editor – A Google offering that allows you to edit your maps
Finally here is my list of likes and dislikes. I hope this mini-review helps you!
Pros
- Android is open source
- Good touch screen
- Good Google integration
- YouTube
- Android Market
Cons
- Battery life
- Heavy
- No Flash player
- Needs a Google account
- No video player