TOOGAB - Daily Google Android News, Reviews and More

Android Robot

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.

[Source]

Two weeks ago today I ordered the HTC G-1 on the T-Mobile network. I have used the phone for almost two weeks and have had the chance to try out the features. The QWERTY keyboard is very sturdy and easy to type on and also easy to get used to. The slide on the other hand, well its still sturdy, but after a week of texting it has started to squeak like a door. So whenever I walk around and the screen shifts it sounds like there’s a mouse in my pocket.  Now the interface is stellar, Google went all out with the Android platform. The menus are clean and easy to use and the scrolling wallpaper is simply stunning. The camera is not as great as I expected, it doesn’t have a built-in flash, or video capabilities, but it works and that’s all that matters right?

I guess the main problem of this phone, which changed my whole opinion on it, is the battery. The first day I tested the phone after fully charging it and leaving all the features on, it lasted 4 or so hours.  After the disappointment I phoned T-Mobile to ask what the problem was and the representative told me to turn off the Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, e-mail Sync, etc. and that should help improve the life. Well after turning of the functionality of the full-featured phone, the battery life improved and the phone became boring. Without all of those features it became a glorified text message phone. I never got the chance to try the 3G speed and the battery life with the 3G because T-Mobile screwed up my order and didn’t activate the data service.

In conclusion, this phone is sorta well built, the Android OS is outstanding, but the battery will cause this phone to sink.  With all the features that come in the box, not being able to use them really makes me upset.  Why buy a full-featured phone if you can’t use the features.  I enjoyed the two weeks I had with the phone, but sadly I must send it back and wait for the next Android phone to come around.  If I were to rate the phone I would give it 2.5 stars (or for the blog, 2.5 Android bots)

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.

[ Source ]

Not having 3G service is not very fun, but with the use of Wi-Fi I could activate the Application Market for the G-1, which is still in Beta. At first glance it isn’t as snazzy as the Apple App Store, but it fits the rest of the UI. The start page divides the selections by Applications, Games, Search, and My Downloads with a coverflow-ish interface at the top with recommended apps.

Android Marketplace

When selecting Applications you are presented with different categories. After selecting your category you can view all the apps within and choose which one you want to download. They can be organized by popularity or date released. Either way you pick you are able to scroll through the apps and purchase the ones you feel you need.

Applications within a category

Once you choose the application you want to download, for this I chose Flashlight, you are presented with a summary about the app and reviews written by users. At the bottom you can touch the install button to start downloading and installing the app.

Flashlight information page

When you download you get a notification in the notification bar at the top. When you drag it down you can see the application downloading and when it is finished you can click the notification and the application will open. You can download and install multiple apps at the same time while browsing the store.

Downloaded application in the notification bar

The Application Market is a great experience but in good need of apps. There aren’t many available, but they are all free so far.  I haven’t found a paid app, but then again it is still in Beta. With the home screen you can select the application from the menu by holding down on it and then add it to one of your three screens. The Application Market could be very profitable and can be a very pleasant experience if Google makes it that way.

With the experience I have had the best application so far is ShopSavy. It allows you to use the camera to scan a bar-code or use the keyboard to enter a bar-code or ISBN number.  Then if it recognizes the code or picture it will look up the product online and show you where you can find it cheaper online. If you have the GPS on the app will also show you local stores that carry the item and their prices.

I always say that a first impression is key to a lasting relationship.  Well the first impression of this phone is scaring me a bit.  I’ll talk about some of the main features and hardware to give you an idea of the phone.

Hardware

The phone itself is a bit bulky, but sold.  The weight is equally distributed among the body which mellows out the thickness.  The touch screen is really amazing.  It has a great response time and has very high quality.  The downfall is the glare, though it may be a small flaw it can hurt on special tasks.  The curved bottom gives the phone an odd look but really helps when talking on the phone.  It moves the microphone closer to the mouth allowing better reception of the sound.  The slide seems to be really sturdy and far from breaking.  The track-ball is very useful with links on a web page and for navigating menus.

Texting/E-Mail

The use of the physical qwerty keyboard makes this phone top notch.  The slightly bumped up keys are raised just enough for you to know where your thumb is and prevent wrong typing.  The interface for texting is set up just like the iPhone where each contact is like a conversation.  The even cooler part is that it groups all messages from that contact together into one big conversation.  With e-mail I have only used the G-Mail application that comes auto installed.  The phone syncs all of your messages and has them ready for you to read.  Writing e-mails is a breeze with the qwerty and e-mails are quickly sent over the data network.

User Interface/Operating System

I could literally write pages on how great the Android platform is.  Google did an amazing job with designing the UI and making it easily accessible.  The first thing you see when turning on the phone is the main home screen.  It has a clock and other shortcuts already set, but the best part is your ability to customize your three screens.  When you scroll to the left you are presented the far right screen, confusing isn’t it haha just picture pulling the next screen towards you.  On this screen you see the Google Search bar that lets you enter in what you want to search for and it opens up the browser and navigates to Google.com for you.  on the far left screen you have a completely empty space for you to design and add applications, shortcuts, or widgets to.  My all time favorite part of the home screen is the scrolling background.  When you scroll from screen to screen the background moves with you making the picture seem to be spread out.  Look for a continuation of this tomorrow as I review a bit deeper into the UI.

Battery

This happens to be the ultimate bad of this phone.  I’m talking so bad that it may be worth nto getting the phone.  I know that sounds harsh, but when I have a phone that can’t keep a charge for a full day, I have huge problem.  The main battery test I have run is starting at 8:30 this morning.  The only tasks done were texting, and sending/receiving e-mails.  All of this happening on the 2G signal, because where I live there is no 3G available.  I am not even using the wi-fi to connect to the Internet, mainly because that would just drain the battery.  Now one consideration is that EDGE is always running and sending and getting G-Mail information.  But that should be a small task to complete, for such an advanced phone.  The bulkiness does not even come from the battery.  It is as small as a normal cell phone battery that wasn’t made for a smartphone.  My main complaint is that this is a smartphone with huge capabilities, but a battery that has no punch.  Official time of death today, 3:00pm.

Since I have no battery and can’t continue the review, I shall wait until I get home and charge the phone up.  Look for a continuation tomorrow and more features.

Yes you heard right, Engadget is reporting that Wal-Mart will be the first retailer to sell the G1 in store.  The most amazing part, they will sell the phone for $148.88USD with a 2-year service agreement, which is a ‘rollback’ on the $179.99USD price at T-Mobile stores across the nation.  What does this mean for early adopters of the phone?  Sucks to be the first doesn’t it.  Unlike the free money given to early adopters of the iPhone that got a check when the price dropped, early G1 users will receive nothing.  The phone will be available for new and existing customers that are eligible for service or upgrade.  The early bird does get the worm, but when it comes to technology he pays the higher price.

Look for the T-Mobile G1 at one of the 550 locations getting the phone on November 24th.  Good luck finding the nearest store with the product, I suggest you call you local store closer to the date to confirm them having some of the units.

[ Source ]

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.

[ Source ]