Is the G1 Googly?
September 24th, 2008 | by Jose Miguel Cansado |Yesterday was a great day for America as T-Mobile launched the awaited first Android phone. Plenty of coverage for the announcement in NYC, but is the G1 up to the expectations?
On the good side: the anticipated powerful processor with touchscreen, qwerty keyboard, camera, GPS and full integration with Google applications (calendar, docs, gmail), plus the fancy accelerometer and compass that enable cool experience such as Google Maps with StreetView. (See reviews from TechCrunch, RWW and GigaOM)
On the bad side: no Video player (except for YouTube), no headphone jack, contacts only sync with Gmail (no Outlook or Exchange), no multi-touch (yet) and T-Mobile 1GB cap after which you are downgraded to 50Kbps. (See Gizmodo’s Obnoxious flaws of G1)
So how does the G1 score on the ten principles for Googley designs?
- Useful: Mobile Web, maps with location, Android Market… and you can even make phone calls.
- Fast: Powerful processor, Wifi, 3G. It is fast (until you reach T-Mobile’s cap)
- Simple. Touch-screen simple interface and even one-click Amazon ordering
- Engaging. According to the hype generated and with thousands of apps to come, I would tick it as engaging. And it includes Pacman!
- Innovative. In compass mode the scene moves as you do. It might be useless, but isn’t it cool and innovative?
- Universal. Hopefully we will have Android worldwide soon
- Profitable. What is the price of controlling the mobile web experience
- Beautiful. Well… the G1 is not yet up to the stylish iPhone… but new models will improve it
- Trustworthy. Open source and who would not trust Google’s ”don’t be evil”? But… why would they forget the MS Exchange sync?
- Personable. Well… it seems you can have only one Google account, can it be more personal? Beware, if you have two Gmail/Google Apps accounts you will not be able to switch easily.
Overall ya, we can say it is googley… but improvement is expected with new models.
5 Responses to “Is the G1 Googly?”
By Bob-i-Licious on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
Quick Update:
- 1Gb capping is now off to some extent
- a headphone adapter will be part of the package
- Touch Screen Techno is not there due to patent issue with the fruit firm.
There we go, I still think that it has an ugly face, but we focus on sw right?
PS: Still in Apac?
By Jose Miguel Cansado on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
Hi Bob, thanks for the comment. The thing is I always end up losing the adapters…
Yes, still in APAC. What about you, still in Egypt? Impressive your pictures in foto-licious.com!
By Tomas on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
Is this gadget the same as the one called “HTC Dream”?
By Jose Miguel Cansado on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply
Tom, as Mickey Mouse would say, You betcha!