How would you change the T-Mobile G1?
By Darren Murph 
posted December 19th 2008 7:44PM
posted December 19th 2008 7:44PM
posted December 19th 2008 7:44PM
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Tool.
everyone just shut up about making other phones into the iphone
Larger, capacitive touch screen, bluetooth tethering. That's all I ask.
It is capacitive already. Bluetooth enhancements are on their way already.
Give it to other networks! t-mobile sucks
Agreed. I'm looking to an Android phone to replace my iPhone when my AT&T contract is up in June. The G1 looks nice, but no way am I going to T-Mobile.
Exactly!
1. Jailbreak it.
2. Change the stupid security features that only let you run apps from the internal memory
3. Configure the file system so that internal mem works seamlessly with SD.
4. Make it work with dropbox
Amen. At least Sprint and AT&T.
Though I am currently with VZW, I am looking for a reason to switch as they are the only carrier I know of that cripples their phones just so you have to use their services so they can nickel and dime you to death. I had to hack my crappy V710 back in the day just to use Motorola Phone Tools to upload my own rings.
Give it a 3G network, that'd be the first thing. (Aware T-Mob has started)
Onscreen keyboard *please*
Faster effing CPU, thing can reeeeeealy lag
Better contacts interface on the phone part
Multiple gmail ability (on the main push account)
Make the damn chin slide up also, gets in the way
Get rid of the pathetic troll losers commenting in the App Market, if Engadget posters were that bad the comment system would be shut off on more than just the Storm article
More than 5 apps worth using bandwidth on.
And finally: Copy/Pas... oh wait, we DO have that!
t-mobile actually has by far the best coverage both where I work and live. I've tried verizon and cingular through the years, t-mobile is the best I've come across
Most of that is dead on, especially the bit about the trolls in the Android Market, they definitely need to at least have thumbs up/down voting on comments and sort by rating.
"Make the damn chin slide up also, gets in the way"
See, I really disagree there. If they did that the trackball would be really far away from your thumb while typing. I find it really nice to be able to navigate around on screen (and within text) with that which holding it with the keyboard out.
Its a tradeoff for sure, hopefully something like the Touch HD will get android so people can chose chin or not. Thats that thing that makes me most thrilled about Android, form factors for phones are very personal and one mans feature is one mans bug. I'm sure in the next 12-18 months we will see every single permutation of hardware design running Android, so it will really be a picky buyers market.
1.) Make it thinner
2.) Allow apps to run from SD Card.
3.) Give it UMA
4.) Up the internal memory so that it can run a little smoother.
5.) Find someway of working a deal out with 3rd party vendors/developers/manufacturers to create accessories/peripherals for it (or at least a decent pair of headphones).
PS.... T-Mobile is FAR superior to most US cell providers.
Ps- not it's not. It depends on where you live. AT&T is the best in the Albany region of NY.
I really don't understand this hostility that some of the people here have toward T-Mobile. Perhaps it's where I live (Dallas, TX area), but T-Mobile has been quite good for me most of the time. They tend to have better prices than the other providers, the 3G network is pretty speedy, and their customer service has always been outstanding whenever I have called for something. I've been a customer for 6 years now, and really haven't had a reason to switch, especially now that they have some compelling phones like the G1. Since I travel a lot, a GSM phone is a must for me, which basically limits the choice either T-Mobile or AT&T, but as I said, I've not had a reason to jump ship.
As far as what improvements I'd make to the G1... well some of them are already coming in the next update, such as A2DP support, hardware accelerated video recording, and on-screen keyboard support. I'd also add an integrated 3.5mm jack since a lot of people are whining about that. Also increase the screen resolution to 800x480 and maybe make the device a little sexier. I personally never thought that the iPhone looks all that great (it's kinda boring design IMHO), but perhaps make the G1 look more like some of the other HTC offerings. Overall, the company's industrial design is quite good, so just continue along that path.
Yeah, I think I like the chin as well. I've been working with a friend's Touch Pro, and the hard buttons and touch control aren't that convenient when they slide up. Most of the other stuff is fine, but T-Mobile has fantastic coverage where I am, but I am waiting on 3G like most people are.
I live in the Cleveland area and T-Mobile is pretty great up here.
Verizon EV-DO, T-Mobile and AT&T have bad service around my parts.
Do you live in the desert, jungle, or any other place where there isn't an abundant amount of human beings?
Oh, I forgot, more RAM for more apps!
No, Rhode Island, The second densest state in the Union.
WTF I get low ranked for saying how T-Mobile service is where I live?
"The second densest state in the union"
No need to insult the intellegence of your fellow Rhode Islanders there...
+1 Mich, I should have seen that coming. Props.
Hey I'm from RI to, live on the south coast so I'm on Edge most of the time, but when I go up to Warwick - Providence there is 3G. Coventry even has 3G in parts! When I'm at home I use my wifi network, so it solves that problem.
Anyway, I'd change the phone by making better apps. 90% of them are terrible, there needs to be a mass google app release with decent games and applications. Other then that, I like it. Could be a little better looking, but it's not horrible in black.
I would say T-Mobile is the fairest of the major US carriers, and that counts more than rural 3g coverage (at least to me). I think the improvements it would benefit from are
-Ability to use and on screen keyboard (this could be toggled in the "Menu" menu) this would save wear and tear on the slide mechanism and would save the annoyance of sliding the phone to enter just a few letters.
- either A2DP or standard 3.5mm headphone, this needs no further explination
- Video recording would be nice. I realize this is a legal issue but it is still worth mentioning
- cutting down the thickness of course, but that isnt worth trading the removable battery or real keyboard for.
-Unlimited gmail accounts using the native gmail application as opposed to adding additional gmail accounts via imap.
-Ability to play more video formats, right now the phone is limited to h.264 codec
-The phone has a high quality camera, but only if under perfect conditions. The autofocus is great but the photos turn out blurry because of long shutter lag and slow shutter speed.
Flash is on its way so I wont say more than that.
The G1 is fantastic and with the features I listed above it would be 99% perfect for me. I can't wait to see what android phones will evolve to be over the next couple years.
Doesn't it already have a capacitive touchscreen?
yep
Nope. You need to push to select... Huge weakness in my eyes.
no. it IS a capacitive touchscreen.
Haha, yeah, it does already have a capacitive screen. Very nice screen actually.
major fail there engadget, when are you going to drop the act and go all apple?
All i have to say is "Capacitive Touchscreen" and I'll automatically get Highest Ranked?
i would give it a better camera, and maybe change the design, that is it really.
How about a CDMA version
Here are the G1 improvements/changes that I have in mind for the G2, along with concept images showing a new design (Touch HD with hard buttons and a slideout tilt screen) and a remake of the classic G1 with subtle improvement changes to its exterior and interface, browser... etc:
Concept images of hardware, browser and interface:
http://www.talkandroid.com/android-forums/android-hardware/341-t-mobile-g2-phone.html
I believe these changes should be implemented for the G2 to at least have a chance against next year's hi-res "iPhone HD" (a reasonable prediction) as well as the highly anticipated WM7 Tegra phone offerings.
Hardware additions:
1) Tilting screen (a must for watching movies, live TV ...etc and a big upperhand over the iPhone HD as well)
2) Subtle front camera on the edge of the speaker. (like the X1's cam, for waving hand gesture control apps [available on WM7], and video chats)
3) 3.5 headphone jack
4) TV out (and/or HDMI port)
5) Dedicated Lock/Unlock side switch (like the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic "Tube")
6) Face sensor (turns off screen to save power during calls, like the Nokia "Tube")
Hardware Improvements:
1) Screen resolution 800×480 or 800x600 (no question about that; iPhone HD and Tegra are going to kill it otherwise)
2) A complete design overhaul e.g. http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/6746/slidingg2hdthreespotliglu0.jpg OR keep the classic G1 "basic" crude look with a smaller, less protruding "chin" piece with no angle transition (flat phone, please) and a bigger screen (see next point)
3) A bigger, flush screen that fills the sliding part front (dead space makes the G1 appear to be ugly, as opposed to the Touch HD's minimal dead space on the front)
4) Ultra low-power Tegra-like processor (GPU+CPU) capable of seemlessly handling Open GL ES 2.0 gfx effects, transitions, and lengthy HD playback
5) More inward travel with keyboard key strokes
6) More responsive/sensitive compass
7) 5MP camera with flash, and NO SHUTTER DELAY.
8) OLED screen (OLED displays appear brighter and sharper than LCDs, even when viewed at an angle. They are viewable in sunlight. And as a side benefit of ditching the LCD backlight, OLEDs are battery thrifty. OLED screens refresh faster, so they're better at displaying video.)
9) A one-touch Omni-directional Nub instead of the Trackball (you can't constantly hold down a direction on the trackball. Much better for web scrolling, ESSENTIAL for gaming)
10) Better battery life. (Will happen with OLED screen and Tegra)
Browser:
1) Java V8 implementation for faster page rendering (Chrome's Java language)
2) Tabs instead of Windows (like Chrome, easier to switch/open a new tab)
3) Smoother scrolling/zooming, multitouch drivers.
4) More on-screen controls, PLEASE, at least on touch and a few seconds after:
a) "Back" & "Forward" (which bring a "cover flow view" for the pages in the history when you hold either of them)
b) "Refresh"
c) "Stop"
d) "OPEN NEW TAB"
e) "Bring on-screen QWERTY"
f) "Bookmark Page" (brings up Bookmarks when held down)
5) Flash, Silverlight, Realplayer and Quicktime support.
6) Ability to have Googled words available on a bar/button to easily jump to on a page (like Firefox, not Chrome)
7) Browser Widget support (like Opera Mobile recently)
Maps:
1) Full Google Earth with smooth OpenGL ES 2.0 rendering support
2) "Live Mode" addition (enkin)
Other:
1) Full Bluetooth 2.1/3.0 capability out of the box
2) App installation possible on memory card.
3) Multiple video codec support out of the box (notably: xvid, divx, rmvb)
4) All icons are, actually, really small widgets i.e. they update with new notifications e.g. the "Gallery" icon shows miniature existing images and stills from the user's gallery, some icons are minimized widgets that expand while blurring the background when clicked
5) Holding down the "Home" button brings a "Panels" view of all the windows of the currently running programs like the X1 panels view , or a scrollable "Carousel" view like the Tegra UI.
6) Multilingual on-screen keyboard (Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, Farsi, Flemish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Urdu...etc)
7) Screen orientation changes according to the Accelerometer, regardless the status of the slide-out keyboard.
8) Pressing the "menu" button brings up an attractive semi-transparent Blackberry Storm-like menu overlay with illustrations and a 1-word description on each button
9) Customizable camera hand gestures e.g. waving the hand sideways at homescreen shifts between the 3 desktops, waving the hand downwards always pulls down the status bar, waving the hand upwards brings you back to the homescreen (these gestures are used for scrolling when on the ChroMo browser).
10) Better memory management. The G1 already lags after a whole of extended usage without a reboot.
WoW factor:
1) OpenGL ES 2.0 3D homescreen transitions e.g. having the 3 homescreens laid out on the 3 sides of a rotating triangular prism ---> http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=swipingg2hdms7.jpg
2) OpenGL ES 2.0 media players effects
3) OpenGL ES 2.0 browser effects with easy navigation of web pages, with full previews, zooming, and categorized headers on hitting "Back" or "Forward"
4) Google's "G" logo on the back that lights when the phone is on, flashes when recieving a call/notification, slightly fades with low battery.
Welcomed improvements:
1) Slimmer phone (It's possible as Tegra is a smaller processor, low-power, requires less battery juice, and the same can be said about the OLED screen)
Wallpapers of design on the forums link...
@TareX
Are you getting paid for your ideas/renders? Because you sir, should.
I was drooling while reading your post. Thank you.
- Headphone jack
- A more responsive touch screen
- No keyboard (if you have a touch screen, whats the point?)
i have a keyboard on my glyde and i wouldnt have it any other way. texting on a virtual keyboard is a PINA
As an Iphone user, let me tell you that typing on a touch screen is a huge pain in the ass, and it is much slower than typing on a regular qwerty keyboard.
About the only (physical) change I'd like to see on the G1 is a switch to the form factor of the HTC Touch Pro (screen flush with keyboard, instead of there being a lip when the screen is up).
To each his own, but I find typing on a virtual keyboard (at least on the iPhone) to be fastly quicker than using real keys for one reason -- you can essentially touch-type with your thumbs; no need to seek and then press.
However, god help you if you ever try to enter text while NOT looking at the keyboard. In that case you're WAY better off with a physical 'board.
Raising the keys on the keyboard would be kinda nice. With flush keys, you may as well be typing on a touchscreen...
What about working in another local 3G networks?
i would use the form factor of the HTC Touch HD
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_hd-pictures-2525.php
AMEN
I'm glad you posted a link to the Touch HD...i'm sure NO ONE here has seen that before
/rolls eyes
i thought the same thing until i saw the n97. let's put a little Android on that hotness and see what happens =)
Yeah, up his for suggesting that HTC take the form factor of their HTC Touch Pro, and substitute it for the form factor of their other phone, the G1.
What a douche.
@ron
I just saw the hands on video with the N97.
Darn you for mentioning the N97
My wallet cries in anticipation.
It squeaks, which is okay, but kind of annoying. Also, like any OS, it gets somewhat sluggish after continually trying new apps. Hopefully "cupcake" will revive some energy back into it. The battery is actually fine for me - as long as the wifi is left off, it lasts for 2 days.
Overall, I love it, but it would be nice if it played Doom. =P
I agree. My battery door is creaky when I type which gives it a cheap feeling, and the back lighting on the keyboard washes out making buttons really difficult to see in certain conditions. Other than that, the software is fantastic and I'm more than happy with T-Mobile's 3g service in San Francisco.