Full Review of the T-Mobile G1 Android Device

palmsolo writes "Want to see the biggest and most in-depth review of the T-Mobile G1 Google Android device from a person who has been using it for a week? Check out over 260 photos and 5 videos of the device and just about every screen of the Google Android OS. Find out how well HTC, T-Mobile and Google did with this first-generation device." I played with one for a few minutes and found it a solid unit. It feels less polished than the iPhone, but the screen and keyboard are great. It'll be a real test of Open Source to see what happens with the iPhone App Store's closed system vs. Android's open one.

Comments

Re:Less Polished

[ThinkingInBinary]

Im still slightly in the gray about the open-ness of the android platform. Everywhere I've looked has said that Android is open but the official website under "Will Android work on [insert phone here]" Only gives the SDK emulator rather than an HCL.

So, Android needs to be ported, like any OS. Mobile phones, in particular, have very specific hardware. If you tried to put the OS from the G1 onto another phone, you'd need to add drivers for the other chips on it, especially things like the cellular baseband chip, and the hardware for things like audio input/output, LEDs, etc. It's sort of like RockBox in that it requires a large chunk of work to be ported. They initially ran on only one device, but, over time, gained additional compatibility.

Partial list of apps in Market

[jsharkey]

A few people have put together a list of all the apps observed in Market to date.

I'm sure this will flood with even more over the next week when they open the developer portal. Oh yea, and I reverse engineered the iTunes remote control protocol and released an Android client GPL'ed: http://dacp.jsharkey.org/

Re:Not quite so open

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Some phones will lockdown the kernel, some might allow you to replace the kernel.

2) Android drivers are open source, but vendors might throw in binary blobs (particularly for cell phone functionality).

3) They use their own custom GUI toolkit and display -- not X, not GTK, not QT, not swing.

4) The app store, sdk, etc are built for java. If you have a phone that isn't locked down, you could probably put native code on it, with some work.

5) Also, they use a custom jdk (and libraries), so the java apps have to be built specifically for android

6) Android is the distro. The app store is the package manager

7) The app store will be able to check for updates to installed apps

8) Debian can be used on some ARM and SH-based smart phones.

Re:Not quite so open

[OglinTatas]

Here is a bigger problem:
"Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement ... in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/16/android_kill_switch/

That is a show stopper. I'm still rooting for Openmoko.

Re:Not quite so open

[afidel]

No, as in your cellphone connects over WiFi and any new calls are completely free. There's no need for an ATA, no need for a different handset, no complicated call forwarding setup, you just connect to WiFi and you cellphone becomes a free VoIP phone with your normal number and cellphone features.

Re:Then how do you feel about the G1?

[thisisauniqueid]

Google have already discussed this. The bluetooth stack simply wasn't ready in time, so they removed it. There will be full bluetooth support soon.

Re:Not quite so open

[Cornelius the Great]

From the article:

The clause only covers applications distributed through the Android Market, but the whole point of Android is that anyone can distribute any applications they like.

Not quite as locked down as you think. The "App store" has the right to uninstall only the apps that it installed. I would imagine that Google is covering its ass in case someone releases malware or other potentially dangerous app into the Android store and gets downloaded by some unsuspecting users before anyone finds out. I doubt they'll remove legitimately useful apps "just because it competes with us". The resulting fallout would be enough to kill Android.

And unlike Apple, you don't need to use the Android Market to install software.

Re:Not quite so open

[squiggleslash]

Does OpenMoko even have an app store?

Before you poo-poo the question, bear in mind you don't have to use Android Marketplace to install software on an Android phone. Android Marketplace is a trusted, easily accessible, application store. A kill-switch in that context makes sense, you've downloaded something from a trusted authority and it turns out it's malware, Google has an obligation to hit the kill switch or else at minimum destroy the credibility of the store.

From the reports, it doesn't appear as if the kill switch applies to non-marketplace software, as the switch only applies - according to Google's ToS - to software that violates the GM developer agreement.

I'm seriously not seeing the problem here. The phone is open - you can install anything you like on it. If you choose to have your hand held, Google will hold your hand for you, but you don't have to.