Software News – netfordownload.com

THE G1 PHONE – GOOGLE’S ANDROID DEBUT

Google has a phone? You better believe it. The Manifest Destiny of Google continues to expand.

The HTC Dream, the first phone featuring Google’s Android operating system, will be sold in the U.S. starting in October. The G1 phone is only available to T-Mobile, priced at $179 with a two-year contract. However, this will be the first of many phones to come with Google’s Android operating system. We suggest you wait.

First, let us be clear. Android is not a business-friendly OS. It’s not compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server and in fact, is tightly-integrated with Google’s online services. That’s a deal breaker for us. Really, you must have a Google account if you expect to be able to use this phone. The e-mail, calendar and contact apps will only synchronize with your Gmail account and not with Microsoft Outlook on your Desktop computer. The phone does support Word and Excel files, which is a minor consolation. Also unsurprising is the inclusion of Google Maps, YouTube, Google Talk and Google Search apps with the new OS. Didn’t Google learn anything from Microsoft’s problems?

Android is seriously lacking in multimedia capabilities, featuring a poor music player and offering no video support outside of the YouTube application. That sure makes it hard to be a serious alternative to the iPhone.

The Android OS is in need of some major enhancements if it expects to compete with Windows Mobile devices, the iPhone and other smartphones. For now, it appears that Google will have to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Source: digitalsamurai.senseient.com