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

Apps for the T-Mobile G1: Now available at Handango Handango, the company that offers software and game downloads for your mobile device is now offering 41 software titles available for download for the T-Mobile G1 (aka Google Phone), some free, the majority at some cost (some as low as $1.50). Most paid apps (26 of them) have a free trial. Includes games, productivity software (you know the kind that makes people thing you are working at some desk somewhere but you are really at the beach “working”), entertainment (movies, tv, music), travel (translators,etc) and much more…

***For a limited time save 20% on your order by typing in the coupon/promo code on check out SAVE20NOW. (This works for all smart phone apps in case you have another type of phone as well.)

Some interesting examples of what is now offered for the G1 include:

Mobiola Video Studio: Watch your favorite Videos, DVD, YouTube, iTunes on mobile

Tetris: The global hit Tetris comes to Android! A touch screen lets you spin, flick and move Minos in three challenging modes. Clear lines and rows fast and score in wild 40 Lines mode.

Par 72 Golf: a realistic 3D golf game with three 18 hole courses. The game features hills, water, sand traps, and sloping greens.

Vegas Pool Sharks: a 3D pool game played against four predatory casino hustlers with increasing skill levels.

Fit Sync: Download and log FREE workouts on your device. Real-time charts analyze your performance. Connect, compare and share with FitSync® Widgets and Facebook feeds.

EasyTranslator is the fastest and easiest way to translate from one language to another. It allows you to perform any translation within seconds.

EasyTipper is the easiest way to split a bill and calculate the amount of tip per person. It can also calculate the amount of tip for drinkers and teetotalers

Apps for the T-Mobile G1: Now available at Handango

Free apps include:

Mobeegal - mobile search. redefined

aDialCode- tells you how to dial to a city from another city

A-Shopper: Manage your shopping list on Internet or on your Android device

mShare for Android: is a mobile file sharing application allow you to share files from mobile to mobile, mobile to computer, or computer to mobile. Free for first 2500 users***Note here- get in quickly as this free offer will not last.

Apps for the T-Mobile G1: Now available at Handango

Technorati Tags: Google phone, Gphone applications, smartphone applications, T-Mobile G1 applications

Here is an interesting unvarnished review courtesy of Eve Guo of Alibaba.com posted today 10/17 about her experience of a week of using the G1 Phone. It has some good info that anyone thinking of purchasing this phone would want to know:

Her overall rating- She liked it.

 

First Person User Review by Eve Guo, courtesy of Alibaba.com

17 Oct 2008 02:36:13 GMT

T-Mobile G1, it goes on sale Wednesday.

The Google phone is now the second phone I’ve forced myself to put down so I could get some sleep.

The first was Apple’s game-changing iPhone.

What remains to be seen is if the Google phone will have the same impact that Steve Jobs’ beauty has had. I can say this: It deserves to be part of the same conversation as the iPhone.

The phone’s debut is significant because Google, like Apple, has the muscle to change an industry. The G1 is the first of what is expected to be many phones using Google’s Android open-source platform.

 

Is this G1 better than the iPhone? Well, are the Cubs better than the Sox?

The G1 is better if you like a physical keypad to tap out messages. If you’re enamored by the iPhone’s multitouch controls, the G1 may not impress you.

The G1 is an attractive phone, even if it is thicker and heavier than the iPhone. It’s intuitive too. In the week I’ve been testing it, I have yet to open the manual.

The G1 runs on T-Mobile’s new 3G network and is largely controlled by a touch screen, but not exclusively. There are three ways to navigate: touch, a keypad and a trackball. I completely overlooked the trackball at first. But when I handed the phone to my wife, a BlackBerry user, the first thing she did was use the trackball.

“BlackBerry users gravitate toward the trackball,” said Rhone Rarick, T-Mobile’s senior brand manager. “Younger consumers gravitate toward the keypad because they like to text a lot.”Four hard keys sit on the bottom of the phone. The keys are for making and ending a call, one for the home screen and a back button.

Activation was a snap: You’ll be prompted for a Google account if you don’t have one. My phone was activated and my contacts were downloaded onto the G1 in minutes.

The iPhone remains the sexier product. You won’t buy the G1 because it wins the beauty contest. But as Google’s first phone, it’s impressive.

 

THE GOOD

Touch screen: It’s very responsive and the best I’ve used outside of Apple’s multitouch screen.

Mulitimedia: It’s easy to add music, pictures and videos.

Browsing: The Web browser has a neat feature, called Window (hmmm), that shows four open Web pages at once. Tap on one to enlarge. Also, you can increase or decrease the size of a Web page with the touch of a finger.

The Android market: Like Apple’s App Store, it shows promise: There will be 50 third-party programs available at launch with more to come. I’ve downloaded several applications, including a faithful version of Pac-Man and one to watch the preparation of a recipe.

Compatibility: Works with Macs and PCs (but not iTunes) for media downloads.

 

THE BAD

Privacy: You need a Google account, which worries some privacy advocates.

Software: It cannot access Microsoft’s Exchange software, widely used in corporate America. Expect that to change as it did with the iPhone.

Headphone jack: The G1 does not include a standard headphone jack. You must attach the included headphones into a mini-USB port, the same one used to charge the phone. If you’re charging, you can’t listen to music. Plus, you can’t use third-party headphones to improve the average sound, a very un-Googly approach.

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

 

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