The T-Mobile G1
By Sean Cooper 
posted Sep 23rd 2008 9:40AM
posted Sep 23rd 2008 9:40AM
- HSDPA 1700 / 2100 plus quadband EDGE
- WiFi
- 3D graphics acceleration
- 3-megapixel camera
- 256 MB integrated storage, 1GB microSD card included
- Android Market for on-device app purchases
- Amazon MP3 app for on-device music purchases
- Push Gmail support with full HTML client
- Bluetooth (but no A2DP)
- Google Maps with Street View
- No Microsoft Exchange support
- No desktop synchronization -- it all happens over the air
- 350 minutes talk time over 3G, 406 minutes over GSM
- 402 hours standby over 3G, 319 hours over GSM
wow, for $179, I'm sold!
I am waiting to see Android features. The phone also has good features but looks dumb.
Me 2
Hmmm, for this price it would be kinda hard not to pick up. I'm not to big on the looks, but for pure utilitarianism I think it would be hard to beat.
"For this price it would be kinda hard not to pick up"???
You realize that's a whopping 20-buck savings off an 8GB iPhone 3G? And that this wonderphone has 1 GB of memory? Yeah, that's a FANTASTIC deal...if you're just a bitter Apple hater.
Why does freedom always have to come with a price? I hate the fact that all the Linux phones that are out right now cost twice as much as their proprietary-OS counterparts and have less than half as much memory, etc. Apple could charge $800 for the iPhone if it was running Linux (think of all the other features the iPhone should have - you could have all those and more with Linux), but they decided to lock it down and charge $200 so they could sell more... People are so greedy these days.
I am an apple hater. and i would buy it over an iphone even though it looks like a little kids toy superphone. cause you can get an 8gb microsd for ridiculously cheap, memory problem solved. but i already have a nice nokia from tmobile so i'll wait for v2 of the googlephone.
Take an iphone, cut the bottom off, stick a button module on the bottom, install google OS. Design done, I'm going on break.
Oh, you wanted a keyboard? Ok, I stuck one on the back... it slides out like a keyboard drawer. Now, I'm going on break.
It's obvious that you are an American designer, ripping other's products and taking lots of breaks.
Since I'm not American, it can't be that obvious. Nice try though. You have to admit it looks like a cut off iPhone from the front though.
You have to admit, it looks almost just like every other HTC phone for the last 3 years, oh wait.... that's right... you must think the iphone came first.
How thick is that phone?
Google AI not available in this version
According to Walt Mossberg who got his hands on a demo:
"It’s stubby and chunky, nearly 30% thicker and almost 20% heavier than the iPhone."
Nice job, HTC.
@case
dont ever listen to that complete fuckign tool walt mossberg. that guy is a fucking blown, and i hate him. think about it. why the hell would you compare this phone in terms of thickness to the iphone? shouldn't you compare it to the tilt, the htc touch pro, the enV II or any othe rphone that has a larger display COUPLED with a slideout keyboard. By that same reason, i guess you could call a htc touch pro clunky and fat compared to the touch diamond. when in essence...they're the same damn phone, just one w/out a keyboard.
shit...i hate stupid people. and not you case, that mossberg. god i hate that guy.
Too bad T-Mobile isn't available in Raleigh, NC.
hope someone else comes out with it. not that I'd get it, but I'd like to see some good old fashioned competition.
Now it is. They've just completed the SunCom purchase, remember?
T Mobile is available in Raleigh, NC now. Maybe you should check the top of their website where it says, "T-Mobile is now in the Carolinas!"
or just hit up the link: http://www.t-mobile.com/promotions/genericregular.aspx?Passet=Pro_Pro_SunComLP&WT.mc_n=suncom_home7&WT.mc_t=OnsiteAd
T-mobile has purchased SunCom...which covers North Carolina and of course Raleigh. That said you could of still had a T-Mobile phone in Raliegh becuase they don't charge for roaming. Prior to the SunCom merge T-mobile phones roamed on Verizon, Cingular or SunCom.
damn, i want me some camera-overlayed gps with arrows that tell me part of my route is to ascend into the air.
dual-boot or even more in the phone?
Start the HTC and hold some button to choose WM UIQ PalmOS Andriod Mac...
No tethering!? aaaagggghhhhh.... BOOOOO!
I wonder how long before someone ports something like Joikuspot to it... then you'd effectively get tethering.
Otherwise, I like it. I'll buy one when a wifi tethering solution like Joikuspot is available.
I agree.
this reminds me a little of iPhone 1.0 .... this is just a precursor to a better phone just around the corner.
Any idea how much is an unlocked version? Tmo has pathetic coverage in our neck of the woods.
Gross. Hurts my eyes just looking at it.
Software and usability may be killer, but aesthetics are crap.
I hope Android will be put on sexier devices... SOON.
PS: not like it matters for us Canadians anyway. fuck.
I don't really care about the looks one way or another, but as far as us Canadians ever getting it...HA!
Even if we could afford the insane data rates, I think Rogers would be too afraid of not having a psychotic level of control over all aspects of the device to ever sell it.
Luckily, I'm a Canadian... workin in the States for a bit.
CRAP. i'm out of here in 3 months though... Sim-locked!? CRAP.
@jorvay
Rogers does sell the iPhone, which they do not have complete control of.
@Ashwin;
True, but what control Rogers doesn't have over the iphone, apple has. And I'm sure there's a very carefully negotiated contract between the two. With Android, they would lose a lot of that control because of the nature of open-source software. It allows more freedom (aka lack of Rogers' control) than a jailbroken iphone...and that freedom is legal.
but will it be available in non-T-Mobile countries, such as Brazil?
(but then some of our earlier 3G networks are 850Mhz, even though they also operate in 2100Mhz)
and T-Mobile DE, CZ, AT and NL will have BOTH the iPhone AND the G1!
They said "UK in november, other T-Mobile/DT countries in 1Q 2009", I think.
What I want to know is when will the source code be released so that we can get this on other phones.
No Microsoft Exchange support. Well they just lost a bunch of people.
Yeah, the no exchange support kills it for me. I don't want to have to carry one phone for business and one for play. I'm not a sucker for looks, so the fact that it looks like crap is OK since it has pretty good functionality, but without exchange support (and with T-Mobile as the provider), the G1 goes to the bottom of the list of smart phones I'd buy.
i am sure someone will have it out soon....
as for the looks who gives a fuck! its all about how it works not what it looks like wtf? whats so good about the iphone nothing its just he fucking screen? same shit.... looks is the last thing i would care about as long as it lets me do what i want when i want it and fast i am good...
you know that it's NOT going to take long to have the application that supports Microsoft Exchange, right?
What about no contract
Cool, now Google power phones. All we need now is a Google Credit Card (it'll come) and then they will know EVERYTHING about you - what you search for, what you click on, what you blog, what you buy, who you call, everything.
Who is watching Google?
The phone doesn't tether? That's one of the things I was hoping for!
What's the matter? Don't you understand why this software is freakin' cool? It's open source, and EVERYBODY is able to change EVERYTHING. Just a matter of time and we will see a tethering app.
Don't you understand?
T-Mobile doesn't want you to tether.
Open Source or not.
@TMM
I've been tethering with my t-mo dash for a year now, with no problems. Granted I don't use it daily, but there have been some weeks when I'm out of town, my ISP is messed up, whatever, where I put some reasonable use through it.
From what I've heard, they either don't care or can't tell, as long as you aren't running bit-torrent through it or something obvious like that. (The t-mo sales guy at the store said he and his family have been doing the same for years also, for what thats worth.)
This may be changing with 3G now, who knows. I think that with their current (slow) network, they were probably just wanting to sell as many data plans as possible.
What is tethering?
Good start.... Price is good.... Might be right for what is included, but I would be willing to pay MORE if it included:
Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
Camera that records VIDEO
Increased screen resolution
I agree no A2DP sucks but the video will not be an issue as soon as they make the app for it.
I already have complete control of the Fstop, ISO and distance it works great!
The HTC has an adapter plus other vendors so it's not a big issue at all. It's just a matter of time before they resolve the A2DP.
I love my G1
I'm sure this platform is fantastic and I am very supportive of competition, but PLEASE make a device that looks modern.
How much is the monthly plan engadget? Thats the part I really want to know...
No micro-SD Slot or anything?
According to specs I saw, it has a microSD slot.
That is one fugly looking design for a phone. With the black rounded plastic buttons and grey nub it looks like a device designed in the 1980's. The features may be nice but the industrial design team definitely dropped the ball with this one.
THIS is the vaunted iPhone killer we've been hearing about for months??? LMAO.
Fugly.
Ok, no A2DP, but is there 3.5mm???
Nope.
iPhone FTW.
no ad2p and no headphone slot = double loss...worst comes to worse, they will undoubtedly support audio out of the mini usb since there are many htc devices that already do. but having to get yet another conversion cable blows balls...
No A2DP? Oh, what the fu...
Way to ruin my afternoon, Engadget :[
Forgive me for my ignorance, but does anybody know if it is technically possible for A2DP support to be added in the future as a software update? Or does it require dedicated hardware to work?
I read somewhere, probably on this site, that Google had been developing it for the G1 but didn't have time to finish it before the release. Thus implying that it could be incorporated in the future. Vague, I know, but perhaps someone else can elaborate.
No Exchange support...no A2DP support...butt ugly...shall I go on. I was hopping for so much more from this device. The price is right but so many good things are missing. Maybe they will get it right with the next version. I will wait and see. I am not much for getting the latest tech until it has been out for a while anyway. We should know soon if it will be a hit or a miss.
Then, by definition, it's not the latest tech.
Can I get a "no Android" filter? It's getting in the way of my iPhone news.
Yeah, where are all of the iPhone haters hating the G1 for the same reasons that they hated the hateful "JesusPhone". Come on people! Where is all of the groaning that there is no A2DP, tethering, video camera, 1GB memory, the fact that is looks like every WM6 phone that exists. Oh, I know why, because it wasn't from Apple. Put the Apple logo on this and the board would be full of hateful comments.
Has anyone thought about the fact that T-Mo has NO real 3G presence? Did you look at the announcement that it will be sold directly only within a short distance of the coverage area? THIS IS A JOKE! It is a Sidekick with a new OS. Actually, the Sidekick looks better than this POS!
I was so looking forward to the Google Phone, but I have to pass on this first iteration for several reasons:
- No exchange support
- No desktop sync except over the air
- T-Mobile locked
- A2DP missing
- No tethering
Massive letdown. I guess I will just have to be patient. Which is fine, since I bought my previous phone back in January so its still pretty much new.
Desktop sync is annoying as hell, yet another crappy vendor app I have to run on my computer. I'd much rather have a small data sync server on my website, or just let goog/yahoo or whatever be my data repo. I would hotsync my Treo maybe once a month, my Nokia E62 has such a craptastic sync app that I don't even bother anymore. I have more than one computer at home, and more than one at work.. which one do I put my sync app on? Totally useless, why would I want to be tied to a specific PC? Just store it online so I can get to it from anywhere.
G1 upgrade site is down, but at least I'm not waiting in front of an Apple store :)
btw, does anyone know the prices for partial / full upgrades? I called Tmo last week and they said my "full upgrade" date is October 6, can't wait!
I bet you can't.
Enjoy your...
1GB storage.
No 3.5mm jack.
1GB/mo 3G data limit.
Fatter, heavier form factor.
Yeah, this brick just beats the iPhone all to hell and back.
T-Mobile's upgrade site is down.
I love that there's already so much movement since the iPhone came out.
But I think this device seems rushed and half baked. At best it is a "me too".
There is great software on it, but first the hardware really is clumsy and medicore - at best - and secondly there are some obvious "wtf" choices being made (which a certain competitor would already been criticised for until blood spills, not so this time)
Then I do believe the "Open Platform" won't bring advantages for the user, or for developers.
Seems fun to me having to work on a game, and then adjusting and bug fixing it for 50, or so, devices, running on Android, but on special builds everytime. Or is this a misjudgement by me?
QUESTION: Do applications I've bought carry over to another Android phone, from another manufacturer?
And Amazon store seems great, but still this doesn't compare to the "just working" infrastructure of a certain company (I may not say then name or else I'm going to be attacked and molested), which btw. can't help the DRM imposed on it.
Simply buying and playing music isn't everything, you know.
Google "withholding" street view from "that other" phone, just for the sake of having any edge at all is a kind of bs I'd expect from Microsoft .. but all is fair in war ... and war, hm?
And so on, and so on ...
But good that there's finally something happening on the market.
Not to imagine how it would be without companys being forced to finally act.
@TMM
Has any app you have purchased for a phone transfered to the next phone? With so many phone OS's (winmo, symbian, blackberry ) available, I doubt you frequently transfer software between them.
Google has not "withheld" street view from the iPhone, it's just that street view is implemented in flash, and well... I don't think that the iPhone can view flash.
I am confused by your insistance that Apple is absolutely helpless about the DRM system on iTunes. AmazonMP3 is a very similar music store with support from all major labels and it has absolutely no DRM whatsoever. Not one single track they offer is DRM'd. Why can't Apple do what Amazon did?
The fact that iTunes DRM decoding is limited exclusively to Apple's own hardware is also Apple's fault. There is no third party licensee program to be iTunes compatible. The consumer is forced to buy first party Apple hardware or else their iTunes-purchased music collection is held hostage.
Android apps are written in Java, using a standardized API, so they should run on any Android phone. I also very much doubt there will be as much difference between the platforms as you think - even between different UNIX-like OSs, which are far more different from each other than different Android phones will be, there's typically not much stuff that works different between them (from an application programming perspective) unless you start using non-standard stuff, and you've only yourself to blame if you do that :)
1gb storage + microSD expansion is pretty weak.
Considering this phone has neither A2DP or a 3.5mm Headphone Jack, there isn't a great deal of motivation to load it up with media anyway. They really dropped the ball on media playback in the hardware design.
Oh, another lovely gem (T-mobile's fault, not Google's):
Even though you can't tether it, they're putting a data cap limit on it.
1GB/mo. If you exceed it during one billing cycle, they're reduce you to 50kbps OR WORSE.
No tethering + data cap == FAIL
Lowest data cap in the country == EPIC FAIL
I'll wait to see an android device on another carrier, thanks.
That cap has been removed by the way.
Uh! When I try to order it I'm logged out and when I log back in it just takes me to the my.tmobile.com page. How do you order this thing!
I dont know why you're having problems, I ordered mine a couple hours ago !!
@chefgon_ign
The Amazon MP3 store has managed to do the DRM-free-thing only because the lables have allowed them to do so. EMI is the only one who has allowed Apple to do so, I firmly believe that if given the chance, Apple would follow suit. Some sort of "bargaining tool" thing going on that ended up not really working in their favor. Sure you have Amazon selling tracks, but iTunes still hasn't slowed down their sales.
wonder how it'll interface with G-docs?
I'm on the upgrade site now, and the only colors available are black or brown. NO WHITE. Doh.
The black looks bo-ring, and the brown looks like the same ugly brown/bronze on the HTC Shadow - though the lighter color on the keyboard base looks pretty decent.
I wonder whether the TMO folks decided to pass on the white version (operator procurement teams usually view white as too iffy), or whether HTC has deprioritized the production of the white, or whether the white will just be held out for later.
But this kind of stinks, because the white is way more interesting than either the black or brown, and I had hoped they would make this color available for pre-order.
For t-mobile customers I think this is the best thing T-mobile has done for us. With the lineup phones they have now. Its way better then any other phone they have now. Yea I hear everyone its no iphone. Of course and there will never be another phone with the success of the iphone at least for a long time. But as a t-mobile customer, This is my iphone and I'll take it!
I thought the pricing for this was $179. when I click to add it to the cart, it says $299??? What am I missing? I am a tmo customer
You need to be up for an upgrade. My wife wants one but she isn't up until Feb. All in all its not that expensive for a brand new phone of this caliber.
I checked the htc website and they actually show 'engadget.com.' in the demo...cool. I think the phone is ok. Could it have been some "state of the art, revolutionary design"? Absolutely...however, lets not forget that this is GOOGLE inspired. You know the company that blossomed into fame with that "oh so simple search engine" that truly gave the user what it wanted. Well, I think that's exactly what they did with the G1. I'm a current Iphone owner(unlocked tmobile), and I love it. However, I really want to take advantage of 3G. It seems that people are more into the actual hardware than the os and software in mobile phones which REALLY matters in my humble opinion. That's cool, but whats so fun about driving a Cadillac with a Kia engine? I think when its all said and done the G1 will come out victorious. Later folks!
Man... after researching this cell as an IPhone user, I must admit it's slick and sexsey business feel is very impressive, it's far from a dumb looking cell or should I say computer cell, it's betterthan my IPhone hands down and more powerful!! I researched this cell just to talk it down and Google phone suckedme into lovingitmore than my IPhone, if youre an IPhone user and want excuses to talk this cell down, don't do research just assume you're right because we are so wrong and now I'mgoing to cancel my service for this awesome Tmobile G1 who happens to be a larger carrier than AT&T! G1 - G1 Here I COME!! What a revolutionary device!! Thatshould say enough!! I Have fun researching this device and it will be funnerer to work it!!
A2DP is no problem. Since software can make it work. Look at the T-mobile SDA (HTC Tornado) it doesn't have A2DP and that phone came out when A2DP doesn't exist. Under WM5 the A2DP software was weak in quality then when I modded the SDA to update to WM6.1 from XDA it was a lot better than WM5 but not good as device with A2DP support.
It doesn't matter if this is lacks 3.5 mm but I got used to it since my last two devices was GBA SP (bought adapter to used 1 GB CF cards) and the SDA. For SP it needed the ext cable with 3.5mm which I still have and SDA I used converter with 3.5 mm to 2.5mm then later bought 3.5mm to A2DP Bluetooth from Motorola.
is G1 only available with T monile, also is it working on gsm 800,900,1800 bands
I acutally had an order processed for the G1 when I saw that there was no support for stereo bluetooth. I called T-Mobile back and cofirmed what I had seen online. I have read the previous post from su27 chaos indicating that A2DP was a software upgrade but I would really like to know if there are is anyone who can corroborate that info. I could put up with the loss for awhile if I could be sure that it could be upgraded later. Thanks for any input
I've got my phone already pre-ordered I can't wait until this phone is out.
If I buy the google phone contract-free in USA I can use the phone in Italy
I have this phone. I took it too a friend and he was able to hack it so that Microsoft Exchange is supported. So in all of yalls face who can use this function and want to !!!!!LMAO!LOL