T-Mobile's G1 Smartphone

[Hardware Secrets Team]

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Title: T-Mobile's G1 Smartphone
URL: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/674

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"Google, which has become a powerhouse in the search category, has developed a new cell phone operating system called Android, and T-Mobile's G1 cell phone is the first piece of hardware that uses this..."

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[DenverDave]

Excellent review, Sandy.

I've had this phone for several weeks now, and I have a couple of thoughts to add . . .

1) "if you need to actually see the labels on the keys, you will want to find another phone. When compared to the nicely labeled and lighted keys on many Blackberries, this keyboard is really lacking."

Unfortunately, it appears that you purchased the Bronze-colored version of the phone (black, white and bronze are the choices). The T-Mobile rep warned me about exactly what you wrote, so I purchased the Black version. The white-on-black labels on the keys are easy to see, and their backlighting makes them stand out wonderfully well!

2) There are dozens or hundreds of free apps available, but I find it difficult to figure out what they are based on their silly names! You have to select an app in order to see the description. The phone lets you sort them by date or popularity, but I'd like to also be able to sort them by name, restrict the list by numbers of stars (show only apps with 4 or more stars, for example), etc. Hopefully one of the brilliant developers is working on that right now.

3) When you connect the G1 to your PC with the included USB cable, the phone gives you the option to "mount" so you can copy files between the phone and PC. A Windows Explorer window pops up exactly as if you'd put in a CD or connected some other storage device, and shows the files and folders on the phone. It's a piece of cake to drag songs, pictures, or whatever back and forth between the PC and the phone!

Some more info regarding apps:

- I found a web site by one of those brilliant developers (Jay Freeman) which contains the Android apps so you can view and download them with your PC: http://www.cyrket.com

Info about the apps is always useful, so here are some of my favorites:

AnyCut - this sets up "shortcuts" on your phone's screen. I've always enjoyed one-touch dialing, and this improves on it to where you can have a shortcut to any phone number, along with web sites or anything else you want to jump to.

StarContact - a great app for quickly navigating through your phone list using first name, last name, initials, etc. The SpellDial app lets you use a dialpad to navigate the phone list - it's almost as good as StarContact.

RingToggle - quickly switch between ring & vibrate, ring only, vibrate only, or silent.

Power Manager - see battery life left and manage how the battery-eating functions (GPS, BlueTooth) operate in different modes (attached to the PC, running on battery, with low battery, etc.)

chompSMS - text messaging with additional features, including a soft keyboard similar to the iPhone when in vertical mode so you don't have to rotate the phone and pull out the keyboard just to send a quick "ok" message.

Flashlight (well named!) - I always attach a tiny light to the back of my phone to light up dark corners, and this does the same job. It turns the whole screen white, which provides a surprising amount of light when you need to read a serial number or plug something into the back of your desktop PC.

World Clock - shows the current time in the cities you select. Helps you decide when to pick up the phone to call your mates down under!

The Weather Channel - shows the weather wherever you select (maybe gives you something to brag about when chatting with your mates down under).

Tip Calculator - put in the amount on the lunch bill, and it calculates the tip for whatever % you'd like, then divides it by the number of people you're splitting the bill with. Not an essential app, but can certainly be helpful.

ShopSavvy - this is a great one. Aim your phone at the bar-code on something you're about to buy, and it shows you the prices for that item at stores near you and on the web!