Slashdot Mirror
T-Mobile To Begin HTC G2 Preorders
cgriffin21 writes "T-Mobile Thursday finally confirmed what it's been hinting at for a while: The HTC G2, T-Mobile's HSPA+ successor to the HTC G1, is on the way. It'll be an Android 2.2 phone and run on T-Mobile's HSPA+ data network, which while not a 4G network offers what T-Mobile is calling 4G-like speeds up to 21 Mbps. T-Mobile hasn't confirmed pricing or exact availability but said it would open the G2 to presales for existing customers at the end of September."
G2, 4G, fuck'em all!
We're going 5G. With aloe.
Or you can wait 6 months at get one with 2x1GHz on a smaller process. You have to give up on waiting and get something eventually.
HTC G2 (~4G HSPA+, OS v2.2) > HTC G1
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
The claimed speeds are pure BS.
While a high bit rate might be achievable, the frame structure underlying the 3G protocols prevents fast round trip times, which slows web browsing and interactive sessions to a crawl.
Compare it back to back with 802.16 (aka WiMAX, aka 4G), which is based on 802 data network protocols instead of voice bearer protocols and there is no comparison. WiMAX, even with similar bit rates, is smoother and faster.
Evil people are out to get you.
A smaller process is inherently cheaper and uses less power for the same number of transistors.
There's a distinct lack of usable keyboards. The G2 doesn't have the 5-rows of the G1, which is a disappointment.
What good is it having ssh on your mobile device if you can't use it?
It should concern you. A smaller process almost always equates to lower power usage, and in the case of a mobile device, longer battery life. Also, more megahertz doesn't always mean more speed. Early leaked benchmarks show the g2 blowing the nexus one out of the water, even though its clocked at 1ghz.
HTC G2 (~4G HSPA+, OS v2.2) > HTC G1
Thank god, someone put it into Big O notation. It was borderline Facebook gibberish before that!
While T-Mobile's towers may be capable of 21 Mbps HSPA+, the G2 itself can only do 14.4 Mbps, according to the fine print on T-Mobile's teaser site. Of course, you'll get nowhere near this in real life, but if you have a 7.2 Mbps HSPA device, and you're expecting it to be 3x as fast as whatever you get in real life on that, you'll be disappointed to only get 2x that, at best.
http://g2.t-mobile.com/
There's no failure quite as dissatisfying as a complete and total solution to the wrong problem.
"...which while not a 4G network offers what T-Mobile is calling 4G-like speeds up to 21 Mbps."
From the ITU, on 4G mobile speed per the working group: "A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s"
Yes, HSPA+ is 4G-like indeed. It is nice that they are being a bit more honest and not just calling it "blazing fast 4G" or some similar hyperbole. However, I do long for the day when we can do away with terms like "up to" when referring to mobile data rates. It's pointless to say how fast it "could" go IF tower proximity is x and interference is y and in-band traffic is z...
They might as well just advertise with "We hope it's faster than the other guys!" and wait for the PC Mag test to get published.
As with Satellite Internet promising "broadband speeds," HSPA+ is promising "4G speeds." The drawback to both is latency. The most impressive part of 4G networks is the extremely low latency, which could enable versatile online gaming. For those of you not familiar with latency, it's the amount of time it takes for a device to send a request and receive a response. If that request is telling someone you just shot them in the face with your double barrel shotgun, then latency is a huge issue.
"Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad." [Ecclesiastes 7:3]
That 800MHz processor will be running a vanilla Android ROM, without any vendor-specific GUIs to completely ruin the performance. I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that it runs a lot smoother than any 1GHz smartphone with Touchwiz or MotoBlur.
I don't know what this fascination with GPUs in phones is about. Android doesn't even have a large 3d games selection, and by the time it does the current selection of phones are going to be ancient. I'd be more concerned with CPU and IO speed as well as general responsiveness. As long as it can draw 2d images and primitive 3d animation on the screen, I'm more than happy. The people ranting and raving about graphics capabilities in phones come off as being those overclocking "hackers" who wet their pants over an increase of 1fps.
Someone commented recently on a different /. article about how the processors aren't necessarily the battery hogs; the displays are the culprits. Judging by the battery usage on my Android handset, I'd agree with that.
Ah, but it comes with Swype! There's no need for a physical keyboard.
I'm being somewhat serious. I love the physical keyboard on a blackberry, but haven't found any others that even come close. I was reluctant to switch to an all-glass handset, but after getting used to swype it's not bad at all! The only issue is that for some reason they don't support the DEL key in any of the terminal emulators I've used.
Bullshit. No on-screen keyboard can replace a good physical keyboard (Swype or not -- it's cool, but definitely not something I want to be using all day), and the G1 is about as good as they come for Androids.
actually its a multi-processor phone. and the main processor is clocked down from 1.2GHZ. it has a GPU and application coprocessor that should take some of the heat off the CPU. i am excited about this phone, i just wish it had a row of number keys on the keyboard.
they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
High megapixel cameras on cell phones are pure marketing. I wouldn't dock the G2 for "only" having a 5MP camera. It's all the same crap in the end.
Notable for the HTC G2 is that it has a modified hinge that opens up to a slide-out QWERTY keyboard . The phone also includes Swype text entry software for its touch screen, an 800MHz Snapdragon processor, support for a 32-GB microSD card, and Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth capability. It also has a 3.7-inch display, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus, and can shoot video in 720p HD resolution.
So...the features are all less than what the newest smartphones are already capable of. I believe the newest line (EVO, Galaxy, Droid, iPhone 4) all have at least 1Ghz processors and some have much better than 5 Megapixel cameras.
The keyboard is what it is all about. There are certain individuals (like myself) who only like smart phones when they have a physical keyboard. There really aren't many options in this arena and this certainly is better than the rest when you only compare android phones with keyboards.
All current BlackBerry handsets on T-Mobile's network can make calls, text, etc, over WiFi using a technology called UMA. This means, for example, if you have a server room in the basement that gets zero cell reception, as long as you have a WiFi hotspot available you can still make calls. And yes, this is included with your regular plan at no cost.
But not Android phones. And apparently not this one, either. I really wish T-Mobile would get on this.
Breakfast served all day!