T-Mobile myTouch 3G spotted in the wild, G1 starting to feel unloved

Haven't managed to get your hands on an Ion just yet? Hang tight, because a branded myTouch 3G has found its way into the wilds today, which we take to mean that a launch can't be that far off. Actually, it can -- who are we kidding -- but the hopeless optimist in us wants to believe that this is about to happen. The poster over on Android Forums says that this particular device was handed out by someone at Google, not T-Mobile; there's no telling what that really means to us, other than the fact that this is most definitely a "Google experience" Android device just like its older G1 brother (as the "with Google" badge on the back would also suggest). Exchange users, yeah, sorry about that.

[Via TmoNews]

[PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Jun 15th 2009 3:55PM]

G1 the bad touch bloodhound gang confirmed.

[bolezhinkov @ Jun 15th 2009 4:52PM]

let's do it like they do on t-mobiles channel!

[Andy @ Jun 15th 2009 3:56PM]

to me, G1 is still more appealing to me because of the keyboard. Now, why is HTC only making baby steps on their phones is beyond me. Other than a bigger internal memory, a bit larger battery, and other misc. stuff, this phone isn't that much better than G1. Stop milking the same phone, just make a new one already!

[TareX @ Jun 15th 2009 11:26PM]

"Pay more to get a slightly thinner and lighter G1 without the keyboard...."

Definitely not for me. I cannot live with the fact there's a GP2X emulator out there that I cannot use.

[Alan @ Jul 22nd 2009 12:43AM]

Im not 100 percent sure but i did hear that unlike what everybody thinks this mytouch is not the "G2". The "G2" is supposed to be coming out a little after the mytouch and will blow both G1 and mytouch out of the water.

[htd @ Jun 15th 2009 3:58PM]

how much love did android get any way?

[Dafrety @ Jun 15th 2009 3:59PM]

I love my G1! It has a keyboard, and now has a really long battery life now that I have an extended one.

[barbaraclacher @ Jun 19th 2009 10:04AM]

Where did you get an extended battery?

[SDotCiRe @ Jun 15th 2009 4:03PM]

I'm still looking for a phone to replace my unlocked iPhone 2G on T-Mobile, hopefully one of the andriod devices coming out this year will do that! If my iPhone breaks though, might have to be the G1, cause it would be great to have a keyboard again!

[fistpittingnork @ Jun 15th 2009 4:06PM]

I wish we had something new to read on this phone: http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/huawei-to-release-t-mobile-android-g3-in-late-2009-probably/

With Android, it'd be a sexy device inside and out.

I love my G1 and all, but the trackball is a bit sketchy. I use it at times, but it seems to catch a lot of dirt. It will physically roll in all directions, but sometimes won't roll in 1 direction on my screen. My first G1 I had to send into T-Mobile for a replacement because of it, my second G1 will have the same issue on and off. I work in IT, it's not like I'm out digging ditches and keep my phone in the same pocket I keep my sand in.

I could live without a trackball, especially one the size of a bowling ball like in this myTouch.

[MetalBLACKFOX @ Jun 15th 2009 4:06PM]

i just ordered a blackberry pearl O_O

[oliver hart @ Jun 15th 2009 10:12PM]

lolz

[Josh @ Jun 15th 2009 4:06PM]

I love my G1, it is the greatest phone I have ever used in my opinion. Even using it on AT&T with Edge only, it's comical that its faster then some 3G phones I've used. Best phone ever!

[FlamingGhost @ Jun 15th 2009 6:51PM]

this guys dilusional *thumb points to dilussional guy then turns back and carries on the party*

[chefgon_ign @ Jun 15th 2009 4:15PM]

I got a Google Ion on ebay to replace my G1 last week, and it's amazing how improved the form factor is. At first I was worried that I would miss the keyboard, but the landscape virtual keyboard is honestly not that bad, and really think that it's a worthwhile sacrifice to make to get this hugely improved form factor.

It's like half the weight, and it feels WAY smaller in your hand and pocket than the G1 does (like, seriously, WAY smaller). Even after studying comparison photos while trying to decide if I wanted to buy one, it still surprised the hell out of me with how tiny it feels.

I absolutely loved my G1 for the unmatched functionality it offered, and I even thought that it looked pretty good unlike most people, but the Magic is just so much more pleasant to use because of the decreased size and weight. Throw in some extra ram, double the application storage space, and a bigger battery, and you've got yourself a phone that is just a joy to use even without the keyboard.

I really recommend that the pro-keyboard holdouts give it a try before passing judgement, because I used to say the same thing and it really would have been a shame to miss out on such a great device because of it.

[Wii60 @ Jun 15th 2009 4:28PM]

Damnit Samsung I want info on the T-mo release of the i7500

[BlurMagic @ Jun 15th 2009 4:57PM]

Yeah for sure!

i7500 ftw.

[dsutekh @ Jun 15th 2009 7:19PM]

ya, I kind of thought everyone had forgotten about the i7500... still waiting for some new info!

[gus @ Jun 15th 2009 4:32PM]

They're already available here in Australia. Went into Vodafone last week and had a bit of a play, wasn't too impressed as it was a quite sluggish between apps and the on screen keyboard is very tiny even in landscape. I really didn't like how the keys changed from uppercase to lowercase all the time, it was too distracting.

[chefgon_ign @ Jun 15th 2009 7:46PM]

I like the case change feature because it makes it really easy to spot when you accidentally entered two spaces and inserted a period when you only meant to hit one.

I also agree that the vertical keyboard is near unusably small, but I think the landscape one is pretty solid. If you need it to be bigger than that then I think you're just not a fan of virtual keyboards at all.

[helfrez @ Jun 15th 2009 4:44PM]

I must say, i also love my Droid! Even with ATT edge speed, the browser is great. No slower than the iphone 2g browser anyway lol. If it truly begins mass release on all the devices slated across all the carriers, we could be up for some fun times ahead. As soon as my G1 arrived I rooted it, installed cupcake, and the Apps2SD patch! I have roughly 30-40 apps installed on a 2gb partition on the card (other 6gb is regular storage) and it has no effect at all on the OS!

More phones, more carriers = more dev interested. tag on the fact that its free to use, and the mobile OS soup could get shaken up.

[chefgon_ign @ Jun 15th 2009 7:48PM]

I was thinking about doing apps2sd, but what happens when you mount your SD card on your computer? That makes it unavailable to the Android system, so doesn't everything start crashing then as it tries to reference what it believes to be non-removable storage and finds nothing there?

[helfrez @ Jun 15th 2009 8:00PM]

Nope, you partition your card one ext and one fat partition. I used a 2GB/6GB. The app side gets mounted and linked at os level, the remaining fat partition works normally. Now you will have issues if you try to boot the device with the card removed, but the card mounting works normally. Great thing is even with several dozen apps installed my phone shows 73MB free space.

[chefgon_ign @ Jun 15th 2009 11:20PM]

Oh, well that's awesome. I should definitely look into it. I'll wait for a Magic-specific tutorial to crop up just to make sure there aren't any issues due to minor differences between the G1 and the Magic.

[Marc @ Jun 15th 2009 4:44PM]

The G1 ironically looks better than this bar of soap with the protruding buttons.

[Victor Stuber @ Jun 15th 2009 5:07PM]

by saying this is worse, do you mean that it's sleeker, thinner, and they booted the unnecessary keyboard? This thing is sexy

[chefgon_ign @ Jun 15th 2009 11:21PM]

I have always thought that the G1 looked pretty great, but when you see it in person there's no denying that the Magic looks a hell of a lot better.

[Ish @ Jun 15th 2009 4:58PM]

Is this thing going to have UMA?

[ipodrulz @ Jun 15th 2009 5:04PM]

I've seen a device that looks exactly like that in Canada (Rogers is selling it) except they call it the Magic. The HTC G1 is called the Dream here too.


So is this called the ion/myTouch 3G/Magic/G2?

[Squachen @ Jun 15th 2009 5:30PM]

It's been sold as htc magic in europe for some time too. I have one and it's great! :)
http://www.htc.com/www/product/magic/overview.html

[Ryan @ Jun 15th 2009 8:43PM]

The Ion was given out to the devs that went to their conference, it's an unlocked special edition type-a-thing.
It is called the Magic outside of the States, and in nowhere officially called the G2.

[hmm @ Jun 15th 2009 6:16PM]

The words "touch" "my" "G" and "spot" are a little too close in this article headline...
Semi Freudian slip?

[MetalBLACKFOX @ Jun 15th 2009 6:59PM]

are all those buttons necessary?

[chefgon_ign @ Jun 15th 2009 8:08PM]

YES. I don't get why people are so offended by buttons these days. Well, okay, maybe you don't need ALL of them, but I am certainly grateful for most of them and I think that eliminating as many buttons as possible just to unclutter the face of the device is the wrong way to go.

Left to right, top to bottom:

Home: Even Apple admits this one is needed. Also, long press it to pull up Android's equivalent of Alt+Tab and switch between applications. Absolutely necessary.

Menu: Allows more screen space for applications by hiding the option buttons along the bottom of the screen until you need them. Extremely helpful.

Back: Allows more screen space for applications by not forcing them to have a software back button in the top corner at all times. Extremely helpful.

Search: Okay, yeah, this one's a little superfluous, I'll admit defeat on that one. It's mildly helpful at times, but there is almost always an on-screen search feature (in the hidden menu) on any screen where this button functions. Long press to activate google voice search, which I find to be largely pointless. Kind of lame.

Call: Kind of pointless for its main function, but if you're into voice commands a long press on this button will activate the voice command listener from anywhere. Moderately helpful, but not absolutely necessary. Kind of lame.

Trackball: Extremely helpful for clicking on tiny hyperlinks without zooming in. Also extremely helpful for selecting text without covering the screen with your finger. It's optional, but I definitely appreciate having it there. Moderately helpful.

End: Hangs up calls, locks the screen. Even the iPhone has a screen lock button. Absolutely necessary.

So in all, we have two buttons that it shares in common with the iPhone, two buttons that it uses to maximize screen space for applications (that would have to have persistent on-screen buttons on Apple's platform), two buttons of questionable usefulness unless you're a fan of voice commands, and one trackball that may or may not be extremely helpful depending on your preference.

I think the G1 has a slight edge in button usage, as it skips the Search Button in favor of a dedicated Camera Shutter. Also the button placement seemed slightly more logical (maybe just because I'm more used to it). I would have stuck with that layout if I had designed this thing.

[IG @ Jun 15th 2009 8:15PM]

I just want to say, I love my G1.

[Jacob @ Jun 15th 2009 9:04PM]

Seems like the G1 would still be better due to the hardware keyboard. But, I'm still going with the 3GS for my new phone.

[TareX @ Jun 15th 2009 10:01PM]

FAIL phone.

Why would you give away the keyboard necessary for the SNES and MAME emulators, while paying even more? This phone has nothing (besides the 3.2mp --> 5mp camera) over the G1. Unless you count a couple of mm's thinner something.

[chefgon_ign @ Jun 15th 2009 11:18PM]

It really is a huge improvement in size and weight. I know a G1 isn't exactly going to weigh you down or anything, but still if you have interest in a non-bulky phone and you don't play a lot of games then this is definitely a significant improvement over the G1. It is kind of sad to give up Doom and Nesoid, but to be perfectly honest I barely used them anyway.

[Dr.Rock @ Jun 16th 2009 4:11AM]

I already have this phone with Vodafone in the Netherlands. http://www.vodafone.nl/shop/category/Telefoons/cat16170003/HTC/cat11610005/HTC+Magic/cat12870007?cmpid=HTC_Magic has some better pictures on the site.

[ill trooper @ Jun 16th 2009 4:12AM]

On a side note, the quality of these leaked spy shots we see is going to dramatically increase when that 3GS macro-mode finally hits this friday.

[newjaruz @ Jun 16th 2009 9:53AM]

This is a sexy little device. A lot of people I think will regret getting iphones by the end of this year when they start to see the LED android phones hit the shelves with possible VGA support and faster more potent hardware(processors/RAM) especially something like the Huawei phone among others that will drop this fall or winter.