The T-Mobile G1

T-Mobile's newest set was officially announced today at a press conference in New York. Set to launch on October 22nd for $179 on T-Mobile in the US on a two-year stint, or $399 contract-free. Starting in early November all you folks in United Kingdom will have access and Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands can expect their release in the first quarter of 2009. The G1 features WiFi and 3G radios, a 3-megapixel camera, and support for the Android Market and Amazon's mobile MP3 store, giving owners apps and tunes on the go. Existing T-Mobile subscribers get first dibs, with orders being accepted starting today. Here's a rundown of the specs:

• 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

Gallery: The T-Mobile G1

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[Rick @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:45AM]

wow, for $179, I'm sold!

[Jash Sayani @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:26AM]

I am waiting to see Android features. The phone also has good features but looks dumb.

[Gabe @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:53AM]

Me 2

[tech-chan @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:45AM]

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.

[Case @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:03PM]

"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.

[Guilty @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:59PM]

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.

[Brian @ Sep 24th 2008 12:15AM]

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.

[Chad @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:47AM]

Take an iphone, cut the bottom off, stick a button module on the bottom, install google OS. Design done, I'm going on break.

[Chad @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:49AM]

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.

[Backlin @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:20AM]

It's obvious that you are an American designer, ripping other's products and taking lots of breaks.

[Chad @ Sep 23rd 2008 2:16PM]

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.

[Matt @ Sep 23rd 2008 3:52PM]

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.

[Murphy Mac @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:03AM]

How thick is that phone?

[FuzzyCat @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:33AM]

Google AI not available in this version

[Case @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:04PM]

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.

[SimbaDogg @ Sep 23rd 2008 6:47PM]

@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.

[Tom Boucher @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:03AM]

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.

[Viakenny @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:25AM]

Now it is. They've just completed the SunCom purchase, remember?

[Yousif @ Sep 24th 2008 2:13AM]

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

[Nathan @ Sep 24th 2008 8:42AM]

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.

[konshuss @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:04AM]

damn, i want me some camera-overlayed gps with arrows that tell me part of my route is to ascend into the air.

[john @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:22AM]

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.

[Knives_Out @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:38PM]

I agree.

this reminds me a little of iPhone 1.0 .... this is just a precursor to a better phone just around the corner.

[Rhino @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:22AM]

dual-boot or even more in the phone?
Start the HTC and hold some button to choose WM UIQ PalmOS Andriod Mac...

[spam_free @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:23AM]

Any idea how much is an unlocked version? Tmo has pathetic coverage in our neck of the woods.

[Zombie Ned Flanders @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:26AM]

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.

[jorvay @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:56AM]

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.

[Dahk @ Sep 23rd 2008 1:14PM]

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.

[Ashwin @ Sep 23rd 2008 3:43PM]

@jorvay
Rogers does sell the iPhone, which they do not have complete control of.

[jorvay @ Sep 23rd 2008 7:45PM]

@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.

[Viakenny @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:28AM]

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!

[john @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:32AM]

They said "UK in november, other T-Mobile/DT countries in 1Q 2009", I think.

[Poke4Christ @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:29AM]

What I want to know is when will the source code be released so that we can get this on other phones.

[irving @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:33AM]

No Microsoft Exchange support. Well they just lost a bunch of people.

[hyloka @ Sep 23rd 2008 1:02PM]

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.

[MontesDesigns @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:32PM]

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...

[Albert @ Sep 28th 2008 8:45PM]

you know that it's NOT going to take long to have the application that supports Microsoft Exchange, right?

[Tim @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:34AM]

What about no contract

[prophetic @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:41AM]

The phone doesn't tether? That's one of the things I was hoping for!

[Jakob @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:00PM]

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.

[TMM @ Sep 23rd 2008 1:26PM]

Don't you understand?
T-Mobile doesn't want you to tether.
Open Source or not.

[brokenkeyboard @ Sep 23rd 2008 2:33PM]

@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.

[substance90 @ Sep 25th 2008 7:03AM]

What is tethering?

[iankelleigh @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:43AM]

I'm sure this platform is fantastic and I am very supportive of competition, but PLEASE make a device that looks modern.

[brandon @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:53AM]

How much is the monthly plan engadget? Thats the part I really want to know...

[Ash Leavenworth @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:53AM]

No micro-SD Slot or anything?

[john @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:18PM]

According to specs I saw, it has a microSD slot.

[Eagle Age @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:01PM]

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.

[Case @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:09PM]

THIS is the vaunted iPhone killer we've been hearing about for months??? LMAO.

Fugly.

[TrueDis @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:10PM]

Ok, no A2DP, but is there 3.5mm???