G Phone Central.net

Thanks to Shawn Brown of Google Phone Week in Review 11/2/08 and Android News for info on the following:

Rumors that Wal-Mart would soon carry the G1 in their stores spread like wildfire this week. Despite Wal-Mart claiming that they were only rumors, the story turned out to be true.

In no time at all people spotted the G1 in store desplays. Motorola’s Co-CEO Sajay Jha stated on a Q3 earnings conference call that there will be no Android-powered handset released by them until the Christmas season.

Update from Android News: Walmart began carrying the T-Mobile G1 on November 24. The top ten Wal-Mart locations in each market will be getting the T-Mobile G1 on the 24th of November just in time for Christmas. Big note here: Cheaper price!

 

UK News: On October 30th residents of the United Kingdom were able to finally get their hands on the T-Mobile G1. The UK however got a few changes that the US did not receive, the G1 in the UK comes in either Black or White while the US only got the Black and Bronze version of the G1. Other differences in the UK release is the price, you can purchase it overseas for free with a 2 year agreement, also the G1 comes a 2GB MicroSD card as opposed to the 1Gb that we received.

Technorati Tags: buy Google phone, buy T-Mobile G1, cell phone, G1, G1 at Walmart, Google phone, T-Mobile

 

Here is the skinny on the new Google G1 Phone. Take a look also at a companion post following this one, labeled Part 2 , which is a review from an editor at Alibaba.com who had a chance to use the phone and give her opinion on it (she liked it).

As many of you already know, Wednesday, October 22, the much anticipated T-Mobile G1 with Google, the first phone powered by Android, an innovative mobile software platform will be available to the public. T-Mobile is the exclusive service provider and existing T-Mobile are able to order their new G1 phone now.

The T-Mobile G1 combines full touch-screen functionality and a QWERTY keyboard with a mobile Web experience that includes popular Google services such as Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube and others.

Dimensions: 4.60” x 2.16” x 0.62”; Weight: 5.6 ounces; Display: 3.17 inches

Bluetooth enabled, GPS capabilities, voice recognition, voice dialing, speakerphone, GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA, 850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100Mhz

Priced at $179.00 plus taxes and fees with 2 year T-Mobile plan

Check T-Mobile’s site for the 92 cities currently in the 3G network.

If you are not in one of those areas, your G1 phone will still work for most functions.

What it looks like:

 

 

Key Features of the T-Mobile G1 include:

* Intuitive user interface and hinged touch screen that slides open to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard

* Convenient trackball for one-handed navigation

* Three color options in the U.S. - white, brown and black

* One-click contextual search to instantly find relevant information with a touch of a finger

* Full HTML Web browser and zoom function that expands any page section by simply tapping on the screen

* One-touch access to popular Google applications including Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube and others

* Google Maps provides map information, satellite imagery, local business info and driving directions as well as MyLocation to let users know where they are; Google Maps Street View syncs with the built-in compass on the phone – an industry first – to allow users to view locations and navigate 360 degrees by simply moving the phone with their hand

* Google Maps Street View for virtual street-level exploration while on the go

* Rich HTML email client, which seamlessly syncs e-mail from most other POP3 or IMAP mail services, including Gmail; displays photos and graphics right along with the text

* A beta version of Android Market for access to new, innovative software applications to personalize your device to fit your life from games, music and on-the-go shopping

· At-Launch Applications:

o ShopSavvy: designed to help people do comparative shopping

o Ecorio: developed to help people keep track of their daily travels and view what their carbon footprint looks like

o BreadCrumbz: enables people to create a step-by-step visual map using photos; customers can create their own routes, share them with friends or with the world

o Amazon MP3 Store (pre-installed on device): enables people to search DRM-free, full-track MP3 music and download that music from Amazon directly to their device using a Wi-Fi connection

· Built-in support for T-Mobile’s 3G (HSDPA) and EDGE network as well as Wi-Fi; T-Mobile G1 will seamlessly transfer between 3G and accessible Wi-Fi networks including T-Mobile HotSpot locations worldwide

· Built-in support for YouTube allows customers to enjoy the website’s originally-created content, easily navigate through YouTube’s familiar video browsing categories or search for specific videos

· Built-in instant messaging client with support for Google Talk, AOL, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger

· Support for advanced text messaging features to easily flag, delete or move groups of messages and keep track of group conversations through threaded text messaging

· 3-megapixel camera with photo-sharing capabilities

· Music player supports MP3, M4A (iTunes AAC, DRM-free), AMR, WMA, MIDI, WAV, OGG Vorbis

· Pre-installed 1 GB Micro SD memory card that can hold approximately 500 songs (device supports up to an 8GB memory card)

· 11 pre-loaded songs including tracks from The Helio Sequence, Kinski and Flight of the Conchords

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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See the next post for the Review of the G1 Phone courtesy of Eve Guo as published today on Alibaba.com.

Technorati Tags: cell phone, G1 price, G1 review, Google G1, Google phone, GPhone, smart phones, T-Mobile G1, tech highlights