The G1 gets a near-complete unboxing, we get totally jealous
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Oct 2nd 2008 6:03AM
posted Oct 2nd 2008 6:03AM
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
yeah engadget, try to hype this really ugly phone? poor try...
I agree It looks like a battery pack selotaped to the bottom
although it is distinctive rather than the samsun instinct or something
Agreed. This thing is MEDIOCRACY in it's purest form.
OS = Possible Thumbs Up
Phone = Big Thumbs Down
http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=facepalmvl2.jpg
I actually prefer this to the iPhone
*flame suit on*
@TMM
Perhaps you mean "mediocrity" rather than "mediocracy"?
"Mediocrity": ordinariness as a consequence of being average and not outstanding.
"Mediocracy": government or rule by a mediocre person or group.
It just needs a little Colorware love ;^)...
http://www.colorwarepc.com/
ZSX: Thanks, your're right.
Medicority is what I meant.
I'm not a native English speaker, so mistakes happen.
Doesn't change a thing about the fact that it looks as mediocre as you can get ;)
just another try to hype this phone?
troll or not double posts will happen, but how for your on two different accounts?
What's up with the unboxing pictures/videos? Who cares about the packaging? Take the god damn thing for a spin. That's what people care about!
Is there a site that HASN'T done that? I've seen all of them walkthroughs.
- The 3-desktop swiping.
- Showing off the browser, (choppy scrolling, zooming), Magnifying glass effect.
- Showing off the Android Market, download an application, "see how easy it's installed".
- Showing off Street-view, "see how useless but nonetheless amazing it is"?
- Pull down status bar, talk about IM.
... the end.
Engadget trying hard to put lipstick on a pig.
But... it's still a pig eh.
You're a dumbass.
Honestly i think that if you removed "Google Phone" and "SDK SUCH AS The iPhones" , this phone would just end up like all mediocre touch screen phone's which tries to compete with the iPhone, ending always in failure
Yeah. And yet it's not like one of those phones because it [the software] IS made by Google (who always releases quality software) and it DOES have an SDK, an even better one. You can't say "If you removed this or that, it'd be just like..."
Apparently I'm alone in thinking the phone looks good, and I can't wait to get mine?
And if you removed the Apple logo and the App Store from the iPhone, nobody would care about that either.
Likewise, if you were to remove the engine from a car, nobody would buy it.
If you removed the beef from a hamburger, it would be a totally lame bread roll imitation with pickles in the middle.
Likewise if you removed the brain from someone's head they would make a comment just like davidgiannini did.
Why HTC, why?
Even the case looks generic -- like one of those you get from the dollar store.
yeah because none of the other cases that comes with phones do. riiiiiiight....
Ok Ok everyone, lets just give it a chance first, we may just find that this is quite useable, granted it looks like crap,
but let me ask you a question....
If I told you that you that for the next 3 years, you would be locked in your house, and the only way you could browse the internet was with your cell phone, would you really take the iPhone?
iPhone- looks good but you are locking in your house
G1- looks like crap but it is made for use
iPhone - good chance that after a week the screen craps out on you... uh oh, you can't leave your house to get it changed at the Apple store!
G1- dedicated buttons and a real QWERTY keyboard
what?
rly, what?
If I was locked in my house I'd want a computer. Part of a mobile phone is it's mobility, slide out keyboards add thickness, and a mechanical element to an electronic device. The G1 is 30% thicker than the 3G iPhone, making it less portable. One of the reasons I switched to iPhone was I had a thick phone with a slide out qwerty keyboard, I wanted something that would be thinner in my pocket.
Put me in the minority. I'm not blown away by the looks, but it's style/form isn't what overly concerns me, in excels in function - keyboard, check, trackball, check, touch screen, check, 3.5mm jack, well can't win them all.
I'm confused how they're supposed to add all that function and make it look as slick as an iPhone. You can't get serious work done with a virtual keyboard, so I'm willing to give up a little to gain that. The trackball was probably overkill, but I like the hard dedicated buttons.
It's not like this is a bulky ugly mess.
agreed..
You're not in the minority. We know about the functionality/potential of Android. I guess everyone was pretty clear about the looks of the phone, which was the EASY part.... of which HTC was responsible for.
What exactly do you need a 3.5mm headphone port for? If you plug your headphones in there, how are you going to answer a call? Take out an earpiece and hold the phone against your ear? Or were you actually able to find a headset with a microphone that wasn't complete crap in terms of audio quality?
My point is that people should be using music phones with microphone adapters anyway. We can lament the fact that the G1 doesn't come with an adapter out of the box, but there's no reason it needs to have a 3.5mm port.
They took the keyboard of the sidekick the screen of the iphone and the blackberry trackball. You can say it draws inspiration from everything but it was rushed to market. I believe we wont see the true high end Android contender phone until next year after they have all the bugs worked out. After all I dont think they want the phone to be beta tested on a $500 device unlike other manufacturers because that would piss off a lot of people.
Wrong! thedesolate1, there are very few bugs, I have a G1 now. Incredible. I guess I would go to say "no bugs," but add on "for now" because I have not found a single bug. As far as featureset... This kicks the iPhones a$$.
oh my god, the apple fanboys have landed...
No. We have to call them fanbois to make them feel special. It's the only time they'll be special
Apple's stock has fallen 40% since T-Mobile announced the G1... Apple fanboys are afraid and in denial...
@London:
Whole market is down over 20% since the Android announcement:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=1y&s=AAPL&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=&c=^GSPC
There's been a little more going on than new phones...
I don't get all the bitterness surrounding this phone. Just because you like or use an iPhone doesn't mean that you are obligated to hate and troll against the G1. Different phones appeal to different people-it doesn't mean that one is any better or worse than the other. Its just another option-it doesn't have to be an 'iPhone killer.
It's because the G1 has a lot of real advantages over the iPhone and they don't want to admit it. Personally I'm getting a G1 for all its functionality, that doesn't mean iPhones are bad in any way. They are perfect for what they are
> "Personally I'm getting a G1 for all its functionality"
You're gonna jump in and get the first Android phone without waiting for any other models?
Well, it takes early adopters like you to test the waters...
I like it and i hope that this is the phone to finally knock the iphone down a couple notches i am so sick of it always being the phone to beat its time for change baby
I don't see anything at all wrong with the looks. I'd love to get one, but I'm gonna wait for one with more features.
I bet there's a sweaty HTC executive somwehre reading the reaction to the G1 hardware all over the web and saying to himself, "we're cool... we're cool."
xvid/rmvb playback capability any time?
People don't seem to understand it is open source, you can do whatever you want to it. If it doesn't support something, you can "it".
I feel it is growing on me and I'm am looking forward to the G1 coming to the UK so I can see it in person (if you see where I'm coming from here)?
Some people seem to just be saying "it's ugly in the picture, so it must suck", I think that has got to be the most stupidest thing I have ever heard. It hasn't even came out yet, so you couldn't have seen one nor used one.
I will make up my own mind, in person, with my own hands on.
Arggggggggg.
Look at that big, black, ugly charger and big ugly cables.
I will definitely stick with my Apple iPhone 3G and it's elegant stylish accessories.
Apple is class and style. Pure and simple.
Remember, the key is in the details.
This Google phone thing and all its accessories is ugly as sin.
"I will definitely stick with my Apple iPhone 3G and it's elegant stylish accessories. Apple is class and style. Pure and simple."
This really says it all. It summarizes fanbois in all their facets. It's just like a woman's almost trance-like, useless attraction to diamonds. "Oooh pretty. I must have..." Function completely follows form here.
It is a device, not a smugocity statement.
Thanks, couldn't have explained the stupidity of apple fanboys better myself. You seriously judge which portable internet device you want by the color and style of the wall-wart? genius.
Seeing videos of this thing in people's hands makes it look absolutely beautiful. Just because it looks ugly in blurrycam pics doesn't mean it's an ugly phone.
I see a USB cable in the box... is that just for charging it? My understanding is that there is still no way to sync my contacts. I'm excited for the gPhone, but not enough to change to Tmobile from ATT... (Verizon, can you hear me now??)
Looks like i will be waiting until the platform gets a little more stable, and I have more carrier choices.