The G1 – Google’s foray into mobile
This week HTC, Google and T-Mobile held a fairly large press conference to announce the imminent release of their newest collaboration, the G1. The cellphone is based on HTC hardware, Google software and will run initially on the T-Mobile network in the states.
Obviously the hardware is typical HTC fare. It’s got a 3 inch touch screen (which is slightly smaller than the iPhone). Unfortunately the screen doesn’t have multitouch which means it can only support one touch on the screen at a time as opposed to the iPhones ability to have two touches on the screen. This means you can’t do cool things like pinching photos as you can do on the iPhone. The screen also slides out to reveal a full Qwerty keyboard, my biggest gripe with the iPhone. Other features include a 3 Megapixel camera and a 1 gig Micro SD card in the box with support for an 8 gig card.
Of course the most important issue is that you’re going to be using the newest Google product, Android. Their mobile operating system which mixes all the Google services such as Gmail, Youtube and Google Maps. The best part of the system is that its totally open to develop software unlike the iPhone model where the Apple overlords have to accept the applications created by developers.
The best part of the phone is probably the price and at $179 it’s very competitive. Unlike the iPhone’s $79 a month contract you can get unlimited Internet and messaging for a mere $35 a month. So pricing is pretty competitive in comparison. Unlike the iPhone this has 3G in the first generation as well as a GPS. You get access to the Amazon MP3 store which means over 6 million DRM free songs can be bought.
Based on an early look at the interface the boys at Apple have little to worry about. The hardware is also a lot clunkier than the iPhone or even competitors such as the BlackBerry Bold. All in all, the whole thing looks a little bit “beta” at the moment. Word on the street is that the physical hardware is a three year old and is certainly showing it’s age compared to competitors.
The phone is being released in America on the 22nd October and this is hopefully the first of many phones featuring the Android operating system. While it might have some superficial flaws at least we finally have some competition not only for Apple but for other mobile operating systems such as Symbian and Windows Mobile.
Source: saulk.co.za
Tags: Google Operating System, internet, Latest Software, Software News