As a public service to you I thought I would share the first 48 hours with my new Tmobile G1 phone, the much anticipated first device featuring the Android operating platform.
Out of the box its very simple and straightforward to setup, seemingly at first glance. When the phone is first powered up it starts a setup wizard asking for your google account information or gives the option to create one. This was my first roadblock. I did not have 3G service enabled yet on my account, and there was no way to bypass this wizard in order to enable wireless. So, after some failed attempts I went online to enable the service, and was forced to go upstairs to get a better signal. Finally! Contact was made and it imported everything from Google including my Calendar, emails and contacts. Neat.
It took me some getting used to using the interface (coming from Windows Mobile 6), but once I learned how to run around the screen its quite easy. Access and downloading from the Android Market is fantastic, and even though its so early in the game there are many apps already available. Three apps I have gotten and work very well are Compare everywhere (comparison shopping), Twitdroid (Twitter client), and Shazam (music tagging). Compare everywhere is a fantastic idea, scan a barcode with the camera and coupled with GPS will tell you how much it is elsewhere and online. Shazam is neat because it will actually listen to music playing (even from the phone itself) and identify the song and artist and link to the MP3 on Amazon. How cool is that?
The only complaint so far is the battery life. In order to use the phone all day you need to turn off the GPS, Wireless and dim the screen to almost nothing (which is fine because its very bright). Hardware wise its very similar to the Wing, they are both from HTC. Its thinner than the Wing and has a wider screen. At least they got rid of those awful flaps that cover the SD slot (although there is one over the USB port). People complain there is no headphone minijack and must use the USB adapter to plug in. Really, thats what my IPod is for so I don’t care.
This is only the beginning, and I love the concept of a Linux phone. I can’t wait to see what else is capable with this platform the sky is the limit.
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