T-Mobile G1 manual leaks out

It's going to be a few weeks yet until your unwashed hands are touching an actual G1, so how'd you like some reading material to pass the days in the meantime? T-Mobile has trotted out its first Android phone's user's manual -- probably not on purpose, if we had to guess -- and there are some interesting little morsels in there that'd be even more interesting if you actually had the phone in front of you. For example, did you know the G1 had a status light? Don't see those too often these days. You've also got a full rundown of the notification icons, apps (including the Android flavor of T-Mobile's myFaves app), and -- get this -- procedure for battery removal. Fancy that! [Warning: PDF link]

[Via TmoNews, thanks Jose]

Gallery: T-Mobile G1's getting started manual

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[Steve Jobs @ Sep 25th 2008 6:44PM]

Any finger tips?

[switchbitch @ Sep 25th 2008 7:55PM]

Yeh, we have opposable thumbs too.

[tommy @ Sep 25th 2008 6:46PM]

don't care, still keeping my iphone!

[JACOB @ Sep 25th 2008 7:01PM]

IM WITH TOMMY, THE G1 SEEMS PRETTY COOL BUT I QUITE PREFER THAT APPLE IS RIDICULOUS WITH THERE APP DENIAL PROCESS.... HAVE FUN WHEN YOUR G1'S BRICK AND BLOW UP FROM SOME BS APPS

[Martin @ Sep 25th 2008 7:06PM]

Well, personally, i dont think i will download any app with less than a 3 star rating. Pretty sure that will cover me for the most part.

[Jon Doe. @ Sep 25th 2008 7:15PM]

:( sucks that I need to wait until October to order this thing.

[switchbitch @ Sep 25th 2008 7:49PM]

A bricked G1 is still better than a bricked iPhone.

[Jon Nelson @ Sep 25th 2008 9:54PM]

What I THINK Switchbitch meant was that a bricked G1 is better than an iPhone.

Period.

[StefanH @ Sep 26th 2008 2:30AM]

Come on, we don't need microsoft, apple or linus or whomever to approve all our apps on our PC's, why should we need such a system on our phones? You think such a system would've been good for the computer industry?

[schtum @ Sep 25th 2008 7:02PM]

Page 20: "Separate charges may apply to send/receive domestic/international e-mail, text, and instant messages."

Does that mean e-mail and Gtalk messages count towards the 400 text messages on the $25 data plan? I know AOL IM is billed as text messaging on my current phone, but I never use it. I use Gtalk a lot, so that could be a pain, and getting charged per email would be outrageous. This will be my first smart phone, is this sort of thing standard or am I interpreting this the wrong way?

[TareX @ Sep 25th 2008 7:33PM]

Page 18, buttom left:

Google mispelled "Goggle"..... skipped the spell check because it's actually a word.

Everything about this phone seems rushed in more and more.

[Maciek @ Sep 26th 2008 12:15AM]

Actually google talk is unlimited even on the 400 SMS plan - google talk uses data (GPRS / 3G) vs the rest (AOL/AIM, MSN, Yahoo) which use SMS's

[doylemb @ Sep 25th 2008 7:04PM]

I'm actually tempted to get one of these as an upgrade to my sidekick when its time for my contract renewal. The G-Store is what's going to make or break this device for me so I hope it works out well.

Time will tell I suppose.

[OnlyShawn @ Sep 25th 2008 7:45PM]

of course, what it should be called is the g-spot.

[Zombie Ned Flanders @ Sep 25th 2008 7:11PM]

Hmm.
The G1 looks significantly better in that pic.
Seeing that bit of angle on the bottom portion makes it look quite decent.

[Canman @ Sep 25th 2008 7:29PM]

Oilers blow! Go Flames Go!

:-)

[alexmueller @ Sep 25th 2008 7:54PM]

Not to get to far off topic.... but The Ducks will win it all again. :)

[Patrick R @ Sep 25th 2008 7:58PM]

dude you all suck go red wings!!!
but back to topic, i was holding off on buying a new phone for the G1...now im not so sure if i should have waited
also, what would be best for a person with a budget? iPhone or Instinct?
no fanbois or trolls please. really. maybe its wishful thinking, but gotta give me credit for trying

[jb @ Sep 25th 2008 7:13PM]

The caring for your phone is my favorite page!

[iSIKH @ Sep 25th 2008 7:17PM]

Nobody reads it anyways.

[Jash Sayani @ Sep 26th 2008 5:20AM]

Initial step
1. Take your G1 to T-Mobile Store

Final step
2. Replace it with a better phone.

[orilaca @ Sep 25th 2008 7:19PM]

It has Cut & Paste among other basic features.
Puts the iPhone to shame with its very basic features

[EmoChicksAreHot.....Seriously @ Sep 25th 2008 7:43PM]

Don't forget about the user-replaceable battery.That's a key feature for me.

[Sean @ Sep 25th 2008 7:25PM]

I'm curious... Now that a "Production" device is now so tightly integrated with the GMail service (you'll note in the manual the the initial wizard guides you through signing in with a gmail account or creating one if you don't already have one), when is Google going to move GMail from Beta to Production?

[Culo @ Sep 25th 2008 8:55PM]

The enterprise version of Gmail in their apps for your domain suite is not in beta. The standalone @gmail service will be in beta as long as they keep adding new features and inviting you to add stuff from the "lab" in your settings page. You can choose to turn on a few of the new features from @gmail if you want to in the enterprise version but not all of them.

[thedesolate1 @ Sep 25th 2008 7:26PM]

I love that UI and I cant wait to see what new themes are gonna come out for it. I bet its pretty flexible to make themes for this thing. Im getting really tempted to buy this thing but I have my heart set on the N85.

[T-Bone @ Sep 25th 2008 9:14PM]

Which UI are you talking about? It seems the UI significantly changes from program to program. That does not make for a good UI.

[Maciek @ Sep 26th 2008 12:21AM]

I'd say wait and skip Nokia. I'm a hardcore Nokia fan (have N95-US, before that N95-Euro, then N80, then 6680, then 3650) so you see a pattern here. What makes me mad about Nokia now is the fact that the new devices they announced in the past month - not a single one supports T-Mobile frequency and they had their chance. So for now I'm sort of parting my ways with N95 - I'll keep it and use it from time to time but I want to ride the 3G wave so until Nokia acknowledges the existence of AWS frequencies, I'm not going to spend a dime on their smart phones - and I'm saying this with a tear in my eye.

[TareX @ Sep 25th 2008 7:30PM]

G1 looks good in the manual, surprisingly.

Still it's a letdown... Won't rush into buying it till I see a glimpse of what Samsung is up to. We should expect a leak before Christmas.

[Chris Macdonald @ Sep 25th 2008 7:44PM]

fucking troll

[webon @ Sep 25th 2008 9:53PM]

?

[Chris Macdonald @ Sep 26th 2008 8:47AM]

It was in reply to a wild troll's comment that, thankfully, got deleted.

[theCardinal @ Sep 25th 2008 7:45PM]

I don't think the G1 is fishing from the same pool of consumers as the iPhone. There's definitely some overlap, but I think the people this is most going to appeal to is the people who avoided the iPhone from the start. With the iPhone you get absolutely top notch UI and industrial design, as well as a very capable music player. You don't get these things with the G1 (not that I'm knocking the design of the G1, it's just not iPhone sexy), but you do get that awesome open-ness.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe there are a significant portion of the market who settled for an iPhone, and will be delighted to switch to the G1, but in my opinion this and other Android phones will be stealing customers from companies other than Apple.

[fh @ Sep 25th 2008 8:40PM]

They might not be in the same pool, but some fanboys sure are trying to piss across the pond and ruin everyone else's time.

[Maciek @ Sep 26th 2008 12:26AM]

You're right... Apple was targeting the "dumb" users who are like a sheep...followers dazed by the bling bling factor of the device yet crippled functionality. Android is targeting the individual subscriber - it's all about making the device truly YOUR OWN. If someone knows how to write a code for the Android, there will not be an identical device on earth. That's also the reason why I love Symbian - very open and not restricted (if the phone is not crippled with some carrier specific firmware)

[lr4life @ Sep 25th 2008 7:49PM]

This phone looks f***ing awful!
I really want there to be a phone that can solidly compete with the iPhone, but this just is not it.
It looks terrible. It is fairly chunky compared to the iPhone. You can only sync your info using Google services. Plus, the overall build quality does not look that great from what I have seen online.
I have not come anywhere near to handling it myself, so I could be totally wrong, but thus far I am not very stoked on the G1.

[iancdp @ Sep 25th 2008 9:07PM]

You sir have to be the biggest tool ever how can you compare a phone with a keyboard to a phone without one when speaking of thickness i mean seriously can you be that slow and by the way many 3g iphone users have cracks on there phone from not even dropping it so if you want to come in here and talk bout the build think bout the actual build of the phone you are comparing it 2.

[iancdp @ Sep 25th 2008 9:44PM]

And by the way i have a first gen iphone so i am not a iphone hater and will be getting a g1

[Jon Nelson @ Sep 25th 2008 10:00PM]

"You can only sync your info using Google services."

Oh.

You mean kinda like the iPhone with iTunes?

Stop bitching about Google only using their own stuff when you're blind to everything that Apple screws up.

[lr4life @ Sep 26th 2008 1:51PM]

You sir, need to have sex with a woman and you also need to learn how use punctuation.
Chill out.
Its not like I insulted your mom or something.
Also, there is NO way that I am blind to Apples mistakes.
In fact, I am a Windows guys at heart.
My personal opinion of Apple is that they are a bunch of elitists, but I can actually look past my personal opinions of Apple to see when they have a good product and not jump to the first half-ass "iPhone" killer before it is even released to the public.
Grow up an learn that there other opinions in the world other than yours.

[Thunda Chunky @ Sep 25th 2008 7:50PM]

Page 33

"Do not attempt to operate your phone charger if it has... thrown from a speeding motorcycle... doing so may damage your phone."

LMAO!!!! no wonder it won't turn on

[Sean @ Sep 25th 2008 9:28PM]

That's great about the motorcycle. My guess is that someone working on the project must have actually dropped his charger while riding a motorcycle and they threw that in there to make fun of him.

[Steveorevo @ Sep 25th 2008 7:53PM]

Is there visual voicement is what I want to know. This alone makes iPhone better as a phone and is what I'm considering moving to. Right now I'm a t-mobile windows mobile user and it sucks eating up 90% of my airtime cycling through messages one at a time to get to the one I want.

[Ashwin @ Sep 25th 2008 8:25PM]

In a totally unrelated pondering, why is there a dire need to make up euphemisms for "touching" or "holding" gadgets? I mean, I have seen "grubby paws", "unwashed hands"...Frankly, I find these phrase usages very puerile and amateur. Perhaps, you could just stick to the point and leave the attempted humor.

[chefgon_ign @ Sep 25th 2008 9:17PM]

I'm sorry, you must be in the wrong place. The New York Times is that way ->

[Matthew @ Sep 25th 2008 8:38PM]

Just preordered this puppy. Good bye Curve. For those wondering, the retail price (for those not available for an upgrade) is $299. Still cheaper than gen1 iphone.

Can't wait for Oct. 22!

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 25th 2008 8:54PM]

OGG support FTW!

[Alex Padilla @ Sep 25th 2008 9:09PM]

When people are thankful for a user-replaceable battery, you know something's wrong.

[Tim @ Sep 25th 2008 9:31PM]

Haha... At least they have a sense of humor...

"Water will damage your phone and accessories - even a small amount of water such as droplets from a soda in your car cup-holder, melting snowflakes, tears of joy, squirt-gun crossfire or steam from hot water in the kitchen or bathroom."

[--------- @ Sep 26th 2008 2:10AM]

I have an HTC Wing that I left in my pants pocket and ran through the wash, including the rinse and spin. I didn't realize what I had done till the next morning when I put the load in the dryer, so the phone was soaked overnight...

After some carefull drying the phone works just fine, everything including all the buttons and keys, the camera, the card slot and the volume slider still work just fine.

YMMV