Starring the best mobile OS, Android

Jan 9, 2009 19:31 GMT  ·  By

Google, a major player on the e-commerce market, but mostly renowned for its Internet search engine and e-mail service, has decided to also get involved in the communications market. It took it some years to do so, but the main reason that delayed the balance was the huge success that Apple, another company that had nothing to do with the communications market, registered with its own designed smartphone – iPhone. For that, Google chose HTC to manufacture its terminal, and T-Mobile to sell it. Still, none of the UI platforms or mobile operating systems existing weren't fitted for the new Google device. This was the main problem for Google, but in the end the US-based company managed to launch something new and totally innovative, a product called G1, which automatically lets us hope that future devices like G2 and G3 will follow. Anyway, the guys over at PureMobile have given us the opportunity  to review Google's G1 Android device, manufactured by HTC and branded with T-Mobile's logo.

Announced in September 2008, the  HTC G1 smartphone was made available on the market one month later, in October 2008. At the moment, the phone can be acquired for the amount of $450 USD, unlocked, and without any plan. You can check it out here.

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Design

At a first glance, G1 looks exactly like a normal Pocket PC, HTC-style. Without impressing too much through its design, the device still has aces under its sleeve, which makes it stand out from the crowd at a closer look. The curved lower part of the smartphone, together with the unique slider mechanism, are the most impressive innovations it boasts. Those looking for a slim and stylish smartphone will probably be disappointed, as G1 is neither of those. Measuring 117 x 55.7 x 17.1mm and weighing around 158g (including battery), Google's product is lised in the category of medium-sized smartphones. The compound used is neither good, nor bad, I believe it's more of a taste choice. While the plastic on the front part has been very well polished and looks extremely stylish, the back cover seems a little bit dull, but it doesn't appear to be cheap. Both parts are well protected against fingerprints, one thing that I learned to appreciate, as most of the new devices are looking exceptionally good, but are fingerprint magnets. That can't be good for the overall appearance of the phone, and I also think it's time consuming, as you often need to wipe it.

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Additionally, the generous display is well protected by a plastic sleeve, so it will stay clean under any circumstances. Only the standard external keys have been embedded into the device, comprising the camera key on the right side, the dual volume key on the left side, and a miniUSB port, which has been placed on the bottom part of the device. Under the screen, there are exactly 6 objects that help the user control the device as smoothly as possible. There are the 2 Accept/Reject calls buttons, a Home one, a Back button, a Menu key (very important), and a small trackball. The smartphone lacks a stylus, so you'll be limited to touch control or trackball control. I was pleasantly surprised to find that regardless of the method you choose, you'll have no problems in navigating through the user's interface. The trackball navigation control has been used with exceptional results by the Canadian company RIM, which included it into some of its last-year BlackBerries. I cannot say the same thing about Apple's mouse devices that have been using this trackball. It seems that it was impossible to keep it clean despite heavy use, thus making the mouse controlling a pain. This is not the case with this device, as G1's trackball has been tightly embedded into it, which will most likely keep it clean from dirt. Excellent choice for HTC-Google to include this feature, as it makes it very easy to navigate through menus, using only one hand.
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Anyway, when opening the product for texting, you'll immediately notice the innovative sliding mechanism and the weird QWERTY keypad. It will take you some time to get used to it, but after that you won't have any trouble in locating any key in particular. The only drawback I noticed was the fact that the keypad had low visibility in some circumstances. Depending on the light that falls on the keys and on the angle from which your device is looked at, it might become very hard to identify some of the symbols written on the buttons. Otherwise, it has good backlighting and is pretty responsive. Maybe the buttons are a little bit hard to press at first, but I've got used to them quite fast. There are 48 keys on the keypad, most of them carrying two symbols that have different colors. If you're a right-handed person, you might have some difficulties when texting, because you must use you're thumb over the lower part of the device, the one with the trackball on it. It might prove to be a little bit hard to reach some parts of the keypad, but it was something that I could get over.
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The back of the smartphone features a 3.2-Megapixel camera and a small loudspeaker. Moreover, Google's logo has been imprinted on the back cover, which, by the way, I found very hard to pull out. I suggest you avoid removing it, as it's very thin and it's not made up of metal, but only of pure plastic.
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Overall, I sensed that something was missing and I fairly cannot consider the G1 a stylish phone. Still, I also don't think it was intended to be that way in the first place. Without looking too bad, Google's phone proves to be more than easy to work with, once you get used to it. I have no doubts that there will be other Android products that will look better than this one.
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Display and Camera

HTC G1 features a 3.2-inch (8.1cm), TFT-LCD HVGA (half-size VGA) touchscreen, with a 320 x 480-pixels resolution and 65k colors support. Given the fact that the smartphone lacks a stylus, your finger will take its role. I was a little bit skeptical about it at first, but after playing with the device for a while I didn't feel the need of a stylus at all, on the contrary, I believe that it will soon become obsolete. The technology embedded into G1's display eliminates the need for such technology, as it uses a capacitive glass. This means that the screen has been covered with a material (indium tin oxide), which is said to conduct a continuous electrical current across the sensor. Both the sensor and the human body (your finger) are able to achieve capacitance and are good electricity conductors. Knowing that capacitive sensors are working based on proximity and don't need to be directly touched to be triggered, we can now understand why it's so easy to control a device that has this piece of technology embedded in it.

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Furthermore, the technology supports multi-touch gestures, but the Android platform doesn't support these functions yet. The same goes for the accelerometer, which has been implemented to some degree, though is only restricted to some applications. Anyway, the image quality is flawless, and the change between landscape and portrait mode is smooth. Additionally, it's perfectly visible in the sunlight, which cannot be said about Windows Mobile devices, so here is another thumbs up for the G1. Everything you do seems effortlessly natural when using the touchscreen: touching, dragging, or moving. I was pleasantly surprised and didn't think that anyone would make something similar to the iPhone's multi-touch screen anytime soon.

The 3.2-Megapixel camera is a total disappointment, as it lacks flash and any other complex settings. Moreover, the quality of the pictures is very low, as you can see from the samples below. The only positive thing I found was the fact that the device featured a dedicated camera button, which was very easy to use, and the auto-focus function.

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Photos taken outdoors are looking washed and blurred without a support. The camera does not handle moving objects very well. Furthermore, the camera interface lacks any ways to reduce resolution or change balance and colors. However, the main drawback remains the fact that you cannot record clips with it.
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Menu and Software

The G1 runs a new operating system called Android. Basically, Android is a unique bytecode that only runs on Android-powered devices. Everything that's created to run on these products can be written in the usual Java, but must be compiled in the unique non-Java system made by Google. The Android operating system is open-source, which means users have access to everything that's been included in the phone's software, and can even write new applications for it.

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Well, that was the case until the beginning of 2009, when the G1's firmware was updated to version R30, which forbids the user access to any root commands. Access to the root system has been long talked about and praised, but it seems that T-Mobile decided to prohibit G1 owners to resort to these functions, probably because of the higher number of defective use, or abuse. Still, this is possible with the older R29 firmware, so, if you have already updated your G1 and think you need to access to root, there's a way you can downgrade to the required version of the firmware. How can this be done? What can I say, just Google-it.
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T-Mobile's G1 comes with some pre-installed applications that are mostly Google-dedicated. This means that they're providing access to a few Google services such as GMail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, and Google Talk. As soon as you activate your G1, you'll be asked to insert you Gmail account info, so, if you don't have one, you cannot activate your phone. After that, the device will simply synchronize with your Gmail account, so you will have access to you emails at any given time you want. The Google Maps application supports map, satellite, traffic, and street view. The latter functions well, and the digital compass is coupled with the accelerometer to align the view on the screen with the actual orientation of the phone.
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Amazon MP3 music store, which allows users to browse and legally purchase DRM-free songs, and (Android) Market, which enables users to download new software applications from third-party developers that are mostly free, are other important applications included with the product. Even if you need to pay for those apps, they have a demo or trial version, thus you'll be able to test the products before paying for them. Downloading and installing third-party application works like charm and helps a lot to simply customize your G1 the way that suits you best.
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There are three available screens for the G1 that can be used for various purposes. All three can be added with shortcuts to anything available within the phone: contacts, applications, and games. If you drag the main screen to the left, you'll notice the Google Search service, while dragging it to the right will take you to a clean screen that can be customized and filled with various shortcuts or widgets. This is possible by keeping your finger pressed on the screen until a sub-menu appears displaying various choices.

I have noticed that scrolling with G1 is unbelievably smooth. I could only compare it with the iPhone, but it seemed to me that, while the iPhone might be a little bit faster, the G1 was more accurate. The Menu button at the bottom of the screen is your best friend. Remember this whenever you open an application and don't know what you can do with it. The Menu button acts, as its name suggests, like a special key that brings up a small menu, no matter what application or function you open.

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Here’s a short example: after inserting your SIM card and activating the phone, you'll notice that you don't have access to any numbers from your SIM card. Well, just push the green Accept call key, then click on the Contacts tab (which will be blank if you have not added phone numbers to you Gmail contacts), and then push the Menu key. This will bring up a small menu, where you can choose to add a new contact, display group, and Settings. Click the last option, and you'll be able to import all contacts from your SIM to your phone. Again, the Menu key is your best friend. Dialing on the screen is more pleasant and easier than using a normal keypad. I never had to press the same number twice, and never pushed the wrong button.

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After the Menu key, the second most important button is the Back key. That lets you get rid of any applications you have opened and don't want to use anymore. Still, this is available to a certain extent, as the G1 doesn't have a way of closing apps. Yes, you heard it right. Up to six applications that you'll open will remain active in the smartphone's memory. If you open the seventh, the first application you have previously accessed will automatically be closed. What does this mean? On the short run – easy access to the last 6 applications used and enabling of the option to Alt-Tab between these apps. This is done by keeping the Home key pushed, which will bring up some sort of Task Manager. You can choose where you want to go, without the need to access the menu and open the application again. On the long run – this might load up the internal memory and the CPU, resulting in lags or slower processing of various applications.

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Nevertheless, the developers of the platform say that Android has been designed to work with 6 apps opened, just as when working with only 1 app. I don't believe it, but I also haven't noticed too much lags or slow processing times when using multiple applications. Bear in mind that the integrated browser is the only app that can be closed. This has been especially developed for Android, and is called WebKit. The engine of the browser seems to be similar to Safari and Chrome web browsers. In fact, it works almost the same. There's also a dedicated YouTube video player, which gives users fast access to clips hosted by YouTube.
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In the end, I'd like to say that it has been quite a pleasant experience to work with the G1. Especially after I discovered that you could add hundreds and hundreds of third-party applications that would change your device drastically. Basically, you can add any function IF you have the right third-party applications. On a side note, I feel that incompatibility with Java applications is a real setback. Perhaps with a future developer Java emulator this issue will be solved.

Communications

HTC G1 is fully compatible with GPRS and EDGE class 10, but features the HSDPA technology. Unfortunately, the device is able to attain 7.2 Mbps speeds only on the T-Mobile network infrastructure, and only 2 Mbps on the rest of the networks. As you can see from the tests below, the device reached speeds of up to 130.8 Kbit/s download and 40.1 Kbit/s on EDGEm and 539 Kbit/s download and 52.9 Kbit/s upload on the Orange 3G network. You won't have any trouble with data transfers, if that's what you have on your mind.

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As I have mentioned above, the device features an integrated web-browser called WebKit, which reminds of Safari and Chrome browsers. The engine that powers WebKit will soon be updated or replaced with Chrome's. Anyway, the browser pretty much displays any Internet page, no matter how loaded with images it is. It is one of the best web-browsers that I worked with, there's no doubt about it. You can zoom in/out, drag, move, or open numerous windows that can be closed after you're done with the page. WebKit is, moreover, the only application that can be closed, so don't forget to do it, as it loads up your memory rather fast.
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Other connectivity features an included Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, but only as a headset support. You don't have the possibility to transfer files over the Bluetooth connectivity, as the platform lacks the OBEX protocol. This is another serious drawback of the smartphone, but it will probably be corrected in future firmware updates.
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G1 is compatible with all email clients and protocols (POP3, IMAP), and features Push Email function, though only for Gmail. The rest of the email accounts can be set to be checked at various intervals (5, 10, 30 minutes). The device is also compatible with SMS, EMS, and MMS text features.
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Instant messaging options include Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger. The interface is pretty straightforward and user-friendly. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g connectivity is another option that will surely reduce costs for those that are heavily using Internet browsing or data transfers.
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The built-in GPS receiver and digital compass work together with the Google Maps, so that you won't get lost.
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Unfortunately, there's no way you can synchronize the device with a PC. You may transfer files between the memory card in the phone and the PC, nevertheless you won't be able to synch your contacts, SMSs, Emails. For now, the only way you can synch a G1 device is by installing the latest Android SDK, which is no simple task at all. Android developers promised that a future firmware update would offer users the possibility to synch the G1 with Microsoft Exchange 2007, but that's all about synching.
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HTC G1 is a quad-band GSM (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) handset that is also compatible with HSDPA 2100 (2100/1700 for American version) networks. Call quality is better than that of a usual HTC, however I have noticed a rather annoying rustle over some calls, which is random and not quite often. GSM signal is also good, but avoid keeping the device set on the 3G band, as the reception is rather mediocre.

Processor and Memory

HTC G1 is powered by a single Qualcomm MSM7201A ARM11 family processor, running at speeds of up to 528 Mhz. The MSM7201A is a dual-core CPU/GPU, and contains many built-in features including 3G and a GPU capable of up to 4 million triangles/sec. It has hardware acceleration for Java, but this does not accelerate execution of Android applications, as they are targeted to the Dalvik VM, not the Java VM. Overall, I haven't experienced any lock-downs, crashes, or lags.

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The smartphone embeds 192 MB RAM (only 90 MB available for user) and 256 MB ROM memory. Storage space can be expanded up to 16GB through the hot-swappable microSD slot card.
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The sales package also contains a 1GB or a better microSD card, depending on the location.
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Multimedia

If I were to compare the G1 and iPhone in terms of music experience, I would certainly choose the latter. HTC G1 simply doesn't have it yet, but perhaps the future Android device will be able to provide a better music experience. HTC pointed out from the very beginning that G1 would not have too many music options and would not target music lovers. Thus, it placed the usual miniUSB compatible port inside the product, instead of a headphone jack. The standard headset includes a clip-on microphone and a call answer/hangup button. The smartphone supports audio files in MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, MPEG4, WAV, MIDI, Real Audio, and Ogg formats, as well as album visualization and background playing.

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There's no Equalizer or any other setting option that will enable the user to change the music sound. The audio is mediocre, but this could change if you add better headphones. The loudspeaker is also mediocre in quality, so I don't recommend using it too often.

Nevertheless, I was impressed by the video playback of the smartphone. At least every YouTube movie that I watched was amazing. The G1 supports playing back H.264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and Codec 3GP files.

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Battery

The 1150 mAh Li-Ion battery has an officially stated life expectancy of 319 hours (402 for WCDMA) in standby, and of about 6 hours and 35 minutes (5 hours and 45 minutes for WCDMA) in talk time mode. Our test unit made it for about 2 days at a medium use. Heavy users will need daily charging, or 4-5 charges per week. The autonomy is acceptable only for a medium use, but will require almost daily employment for heavy users, especially those that are resorting to all of the G1's features (messaging, Internet browsing, movie, and music playback).

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Impressions

Even if it's the first device to feature the new Android operating system, G1 seems solid enough to be a compatible option for those who are looking for an iPhone rival. After 2 hours of use, I realized that the G1 was only a shell that kept in the real “pearl,” more specifically Android. It's like you get a PC that has the Windows operating system installed, but if you really want to do something with it you must start installing the applications you need. This is also the case with G1. You'll hardly have time to get bored with the device, as you can do just about anything with it, provided you find the right third-party application.


The Good

The most impressive feature of the phone is the fact that it can be added more and more features, as time goes by. You don't have the possibility to use the accelerometer with all the device’s apps, but the function is there, and a future update or application can unlock it. I think Android is the best operating system fit for today's smartphones, which are now offering more than the mere ability to make a phone call and send an SMS.

The Bad

It's clear that design is not one of the strong points of the G1. Furthermore, I believe that a better Li-Polymer battery would've been more appropriate for the first smartphone to run Android OS. The camera should've also featured better characteristics, or it shouldn’t have been incorporated into the device at all. As far as its current state is concerned, you can't even take decent pictures with it. The last issue that I have noticed was the fact that in-call sound has a low quality, just like all the rest of the HTC's smartphones. I think this is unacceptable, as talking on the phone is the most used function of the device.

Sales package

T-Mobile G1; 1GB microSD Card; 1150 mAh Li-Ion Battery; Charger; USB Cable; Stereo Hands-Free Headset.

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