23/09/2008 by Gavin.

As per the site link on my earlier post the G1 has launched.  Here’s my scribbled notes.  It looks very nice I must say, and Google, T-Mobile and HTC are really pushing the ‘Open’ message, directly fired at Apple I’m sure!

T-Mobile

Exclusive partnership
Pioneering
Open up mobile internet
Move away from closed gardens
Dominant trend is mobile internet
Net traffic grown 250%, revenue 43%
Commitment to open industry platforms

Google, Andy Rubin

Founded on the internet
Collaboration, openess, bringing this to the mob phone
It is a platform and modifiable platform
Futureproof as openness built in.

Peter Chow, HTC

Congratulations and back patting
Android open handset alliance.
Googles drive for innovation
Unique applications, content that will be usable and enjoyable by people.
HTC worked closely to develop an iconic design unlike anything else in the market.
Impressive touch experience, and good keyboard.
Android is flexible and powerful.

T-Mobile

Lacking compelling applications and devices
Americans overconsume everything, we love them.
Only 16% consumers use mobile net
Mobile internet not compelling.
Open systems and standards, plus third parties to drive forward new devices and services on this platform.

Tada!  No more fuzzy pictures, unsubstantiated blog posts - 11  minutes in.

Swipe across
Long press to access features
Drag and drop applications
Music from Amazon store
Related material links
Multitasking
IM
Link to maps from contacts
Directions and traffic view/streetview
Email links from browser
Android market
Pacman!

T-mobile

3rd part devs
Openness will drive mobile internet
Change will happen as needs and tech changes, Android will adapt.
From garages to grad schools to small towns to big cities, change will come from 3rd parties.

$179 available today to some customers, full availabilty October.

$25 and $35 for ‘unlimited’ data.

Europe launch - UK, early November, rest of Europe first quarter 2009.

Q&A

No tethering (surely openness will solve this!)

Support for Office, PDF, no exchange compatibility but 3rd part can develop.

Simlocked

No syncing with desktop - all done in the cloud

Available beyond 3g markets - wifi included.

iPhone referenced as ‘the device you mentioned’ hehe

No a2dp yet on bluetooth

Browser is webkit, think of it as Chrome Lite

Phone will have mass appeal

Robust Gmail experience, Gmail front end can access other services.

Supports varied music codecs

Skype not supported at present

Device is Quad Band on GSM

Google Founders - Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Larry - Get ‘geek’ pleasure from tinkering, has written an app, throwing phone in air and measuring time to catch!

Sergey - Has enjoyed using phone, email etc.  A lot of fun.  Very excited at possibilities.  G1 is as good a computer as any from a few years ago.  Ability to search with computer like functionality on a phone.  Excited at Location based services.

And that was that…

Want one? 

Posted in HTC, Google, Android, Phones | Print | 1 Comment »

23/09/2008 by Gavin.

It’s not like the US to be getting cool phones before the UK but here’s the website for the T-Mobile G1, aka Google Android.

http://announcement.t-mobileg1.com/#

Posted in Google, Android, Phones | Print | 1 Comment »

18/09/2008 by Gavin.

‘Android’ Cellphone to Showcase Google Brand - WSJ.com

The Wall Street Journal is stating that the first Android phone will be available on T-Mobile and will cost $199 plus monthly plan. The price pretty much puts it in direct competition with the iPhone.

Hoping to get hold of one of these soon to see if the experience matches the hype.

Posted in Android, Phones | Print | No Comments »

16/09/2008 by Gavin.

Still sim locked though!

A swift cost comparison:

It works out at £530 on Pay & Go for the 8GB (£10 top up X 18 months plus £350)
It would cost £720 for the same on the contract (£45 a month for the 1st 9 months then £35 a month for the 9 after that) = a saving of £190
However, you lose the visual voicemail and call merging plus the unlimited WiFi & Browsing for the last 6 months worth £60.

Posted in 3G, Apple, iPhone, Phones | Print | 1 Comment »

12/09/2008 by Gavin.

I’m really enjoying my 3G iPhone.  However, battery life is dreadful (based on its intended purpose, i.e. a phone).  I do have it syncing with my Exchange account all day but typically if I unplug it at 8am and make 3 or 4 20 min phonecalls during the day, it is on 10% charge by 10PM.  That’s OK but throw in a 1/2 hour game of poker and maybe some time spent Evernoting or other apps and you’re looking at 4PM!

The past couple of days I’ve turned off 3G and am getting 2 days out of it, based on my initial useage description, and not really missing 3G to be honest.  I’ve surfed a bit and use my usual Apps with no real detrimental effect.  I do switch it on now and again for uploading to Evernote or downloading an App from the App store but that’s it.

I reckon that’s what I’ll be doing from now on to ensure at least a true 24 hour battery life.

Posted in Apple, iPhone, Phones | Print | 1 Comment »

12/09/2008 by Gavin.

T-Mobile May Begin Selling Google Android Phone Within Weeks - San Jose Mercury News

Rumours from ‘unnamed sources’ are that we’ll see the first Android OS handhelds within weeks on T-Mobile.

Watch this space I guess, and we’ll soon see what Google can bring to the mobile party.

Posted in Android, Phones | Print | No Comments »

21/08/2008 by Gavin.

I’ve been having some fun with a free bit of software from Instamapper.  I’ve been using it with the iPhone but it also has versions for Symbian, Blackberry and Windows Mobile.

Effectively it tracks your phone as you drive/walk/cycle along a route and uploads your location at set intervals to the website for later viewing.  Here’s my route to work this morning:

Only downsides really are the battery life hit (Instamapper say 5 hours on iPhone) plus it can’t run in the background on the iPhone until/if Apple change the SDK.  Other devices don’t have this problem.

Posted in GPS, Blackberry, S60, Windows Mobile, Phones | Print | No Comments »

15/08/2008 by Gavin.

Palm lets slip Treo Pro piccies | Register Hardware

Palm briefly leaked details of their upcoming Treo Pro handset on their website.  more details over on The Register.

Palm was once synonymous with personal organisors, with many people still referring to any such device as a ‘palm pilot’.  I can’t see this making many ripples, being as it is a fairly standard spec (wifi, BT, GPS, 320×480 display) handset with an unmodified Windows Mobile 6.1 rom.  I guess the Palm name may still carry some weight with people in business but apart from that there’s nothing to get excited about here.

Posted in Palm, Phones | Print | No Comments »

13/08/2008 by Gavin.

Mobilecrunch  is reporting on the latest rumoured date for the new Android Mobile Operating System.

Now, take that with a healthy pinch of salt, but it got me thinking on where the mobile OS is going.

The major players in this market are Windows Mobile,  Apple, Symbian, Blackberry and now Google enters the fray with Android.  What could it possibly bring to the party that the others don’t already provide?

The iPhone UI is second to none, no question about it but it misses the flexibility of its competitors such as running tasks in the background (an instant messaging or GPS app for example), customisation and skinning is not really possible and misses out basics such as cut and paste.  Although not really an issue with the OS, more by design, the iPhone has a crippled bluetooth stack as well.

That being said, what could we expect from Android.  If I’m honest, I’d hope for the rich user experience of the iPhone, combined with the flexibility of Windows Mobile and Symbian.  Now that could be the killer sell, finger friendly operation without the locked door approach of the iPhone.

Posted in Palm, Blackberry, Android, S60, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Phones | Print | No Comments »

30/07/2008 by Gavin.

So, been playing with the App store on my iPhone and iPod Touch.  One thing I’ve discovered is that you can install the same app on many devices.  If you have already purchased an App store application and then log in on a different device it comes up with a message saying  you have already purchased the app and proceed to redownload.  This is excellent and allows for fair use if you own more than one iPod.

It also means that if you change or lose your iPhone there is no need to repurchase, which is exactly as it should be.

Posted in Apple, iPhone, Phones | Print | 1 Comment »