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I hope everyone had a Merry Chrismahanukwanzakah, got to cover them all, T-Mobile is reportedly giving out more presents and starting to ship out new higher capacity batteries and a bigger back covers for the HTC G-1. Those that currently own the old version should receive an e-mail detailing the shipments and hope to get all of the batteries out within a months time. With news of the new ‘Cupcake’ upgrade and all the new features a new and more powerful battery will be needed. Unfortunately I got rid of mine due to the horrible battery life that came with it, now I kind of regret it more battery life would improve my opinions of the device.If there are any owners here that have the e-mail don’t hesitate to share it with us and we’ll share it with the other site readers.

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Samsung is hard at work developing their Android powered handset, and we can’t wait to see it!  The electronics manufacturer plans to release the phone in Q2 of 2009 to the Sprint and T-Mobile networks.  Sources are saying that the phone will be similar to the Omnia, available on Verizon, and the Instinct, available with Sprint.  It will feature a touchscreen just like the other Android handsets.  There are no specific details on the hardware, but if it is like the other mentioned phones, there will be no QWERTY and there will be only a few buttons, keeping a minimal look to the phone.

I can’t wait to see what comes of this.  I have a feeling that Samsung wants to out-do the other phone makers using Google Android, so be prepared for something out of this world.

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At the recent Web 2.0 Summit, CEO of AT&T Ralph De La Vega got talking a little bit about the new Android OS from Google. He commented that AT&T “continue to look at Google’s Android operating system but is not prepared to make any moves to carry any Android phones.” He continued “the platform is still evolving and needs to open up even more to offer a wider array of non-Google applications.”

A representative for AT&T stated “we continue to evaluate the Android platform, and if customers want it, we will offer it.” It seems AT&T are fans of the Android operating system but are waiting to see how it evolves before they take anything on.

AT&T obviously had a different view when they took on the iPhone — this was a completely new handset with a completely new operating system yet they didn’t hold on to see how it ‘evolved’. They jumped right in and grabbed a slice of the cake. And I bet they’re glad they did.

Would you like to see AT&T offer an Android handset? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Yesterday one of our writers Killian Bell posted a story about the Jailbreak of the Android platform.  Well if you have ‘jailbroken’ your G1 prepare to update.  Google has started to release firmware update RC30 that closes this exploit.  Google says,

We’ve been notified of this issue (Jailbreaking of Android) and have developed a fix. We’re currently working with our partners to push the fix out and updating the open source code base to reflect these changes.

The process of jailbreaking is a little different than the streamlined iPhone version that uses an application on your computer.  Essentially you hack through the network into the root of the phone and are able to access files in the root system and view the big exploit.  Google is pushing out the update over the span of a week to all users of the G1.

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What’s your gadget of the year? The iPhone? The G1? The Peek? Yes, I did say the ‘Peek’. This is a little talked about gadget available from T-Mobile and it’s just been voted the winner of the Time’s Gadget of the Year award.

The Peek has been created specifically for e-mail. It features no fancy accelerometer, no GPS, no phone, no camera… and not much else either really. It’s a simple gadget that doesn’t beat around the bush. If you don’t want an iPhone, or a G1, or a Blackberry or any other PDA, PocketPC or Smartphone for that matter, but you do want the ability to read and respond to your e-mails on the go, the Peek is for you!

It’s available from T-Mobile for around $100 on a £20 per-month contract. Time had this to say about the award winner:

If the BlackBerry is too techie or pricey for you, check out the Peek. It does one thing and one thing only: e-mail. This slender little device gives you BlackBerry-like portable access to e-mail (it’s not a phone, organizer or anything else), but without the hefty fees; monthly service costs about $20 for unlimited access to your messages. The Peek doesn’t work with corporate e-mail yet, so for now, it’s primarily web-based mail. Still, for anyone who wants to keep in touch when they’re away from a computer, it’s a smart, handy tool.

If you’re wondering what else was in the list, the MacBook came 2nd, the G1 was 5th and the iPhone wasn’t even in the top 10! Check out the full list here.

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EA games are the world’s leading games publisher and have produced many fantastic applications for the iPhone including Spore, Tetris, Bejeweled and Monopoly. All of which have been a big hit in the App Store. For those of you with a new T-Mobile G1 who feel you might be missing out somewhat, do not fear.

The Smart PDA have reported that Tetris, Bejeweled and Monopoly are all due to make an appareance on the Android platform in the not-so-distant future. EA’s Mobile Vice President, Adam Sussman, said “Android is another exciting new platform to offer customers great games with enhancements like touch and tilt capabilities.”

It seems like the Android Market will soon be filled with some great quality games and the G1, just like its rival the iPhone, will be a big hit in the mobile gaming market.

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We’ve all seen this before. Whenever a carrier launches a ‘hot’ device, all of the other carriers respond in-kind with a tirade of internal and external ‘memos’ that bash the device, and tell others why it is no good. Call it jealousy or a simple yet weak defence, it seems that these tactics are the norm.

This time around it’s Verizon that is busy bashing the G1 (T-Mobile). All of the reasons they give (as you can see above) have all been noted before, so it’s no big shock to anyone at all.

Only reason I report this, is because it remains so amazing to me at how these multi-million/billion dollar companies still resort to somewhat childish tactics on things like this: ‘Oh, you got that new phone hey? Well, sorry to disappoint you but it’s no good because of this, this and this… The phone I have right here is MUCH better’…

*sigh*… make the jump for page 2 of the document.

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As of today the T-Mobile G1 will be available throughout stores in the UK. Queues started building for the G1 at 7am this morning, with customers eager to be the first to get their hands on search giant Google’s first Android phone. This is Google’s first move into the lucrative mobile phone market and they will be competing with Microsoft, Nokia, Blackberry and of course, their major competitor… Apple.

Despite the anticipation for the G1 however, first reactions have been a mixed bag. Retailers in the US have already started slashing prices on the G1 to boost sales. Whilst our own Wes Joyce is loving his new G1, Gizmodo stated that they believed this wasn’t the finished article but, ‘was a good start’. CNET called it ‘weird’ and claimed it was ‘not quite there yet’.

A spokesperson for T-Mobile stated that more than 25,000 people had registered their interest in the G1 since its launch in New York last month.

In the UK the G1 comes free on a £40 a month contract and is packed full of features such as GPS, WiFi and Google’s long awaited Android OS.

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With the launch of the HTC G-1 on the T-Mobile network many phone makers are hot on the heels to create a device to run Android.  One of those developers is a company not well known for their phone business but for their production of netbooks.  Asus has lead us to believe that they will release a new phone running the Android platform in Q1 of 2009.  This is a big step for them because they only have one phone in the US market and this will help push them into high numbers.  Android is becoming the new thing to have and phone companies are trying to pair a headset with the platform to get ahead in the game.

Let’s hope this phone will look sleek and run the Android operating system smoothly.  Unfortunately they won’t be making the Holiday season this year, but those that save their money up should be able to pick this one up early 2009.  There is no official release date, price, or carrier set for this phone’s release, but we will keep our readers up to date on the news we receive.

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People in China just can’t wait to get their hands on the HTC G-1 with Google handset.  It’s being reported that units have been shipping like crazy overseas since yesterday our time.  The units are being sold by dealers for RMB 3,999 which translates roughly to $583USD, and some are offering to unlock the phone for use at an additional $73USD.  This opens up some bad news for T-mobile and Google.

The G-1 is exclusively available in the US with release set for early November for the UK.  With this getting out into the illegal trade routes the number of actual units on the network could be skewed a bit.  If you remember, T-mobile speculated that they had an astounding pre-order of 1.5 million units, which they quickly retracted.  Maybe they were counting all the ones being shipped illegally overseas for use on other carriers.  With the great news of the opening of the application Marketplace Google an T-Mobile doesn’t need this bad news to come their way.

I ordered mine legit from T-Mobile, so there will be no shenanigans on this end.  People will do pretty much anything to get the latest technology, even if it means breaking the law.  Comment your thoughts, even if you are contemplating buying it in China, I sure hope not!  I definitely don’t condone that, even when it is so easy to get in the states.

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