The Reviews of the Android G1 Phone on T-Mobile are out and the verdicts are generally as follows: Partly Cloudy1, but forecasting big things to come. We’re not going to try to hit every point just yet, but there’s one point where this “Sidekick for Grownups” has what appears to be a real advantage over everybody else: dead-simple cloud setup.
So compared to the iPhone, just how good is the setup on the G1? The answer is: Depends on whether or not you’re a Gmail type of person.
Yeah, “depends” isn’t exactly a clear answer, so follow us after the break for a bit more on whether the G1 is PIM Push Paradise compared to MobileMe’s Mechanized Movement of information.
Woz co-founded Apple and pretty much kick-started the personal computer revolution; fair enough. Since then, however, he’s made his bones as a fairly big practical joker. Which Woz was it, then, who told the Telegraph:
“Consumers aren’t getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down,” he says when comparing the iPhone’s closed operating system to the new Google phone’s open source system which allows anyone to modify and adapt the way the phone works. “I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you’re allowed,” he laments.
Of course, Woz could probably stroll into Apple, flash his stock certificates, and write any App he wants. So what’s he really saying? That average consumers would be better off with a more open platform from Apple?
That probably better defines the harder core developers, geeks, technophiles, and blogerati than the average consumer — just the type currently salivating over the Google Android.
Apple has made their iPod — and now iPhone — fortune, however, by giving average consumers what they really want: unmatched ease of use wrapped in a drop-dead gorgeous package.
My 2 and a half year old godson could use an iPhone with startling ease. Google Android? He could probably figure out how to throw it (likely at my head in frustration).
Woz is a genius, no doubt about it. He dented the world. But the classic mistake of any genius is seeing multiple problems when all every day people see is a single solution. The iPhone isn’t a kit computer like the Apple II. It’s the ultimate sealed-up Mac. Two different markets, with the second one being better for average consumers (despite geek howls to the contrary).
If you didn’t know, Google and T-Mobile held a small event that introduced the world to Android and the first Android device, the T-Mobile G1. And though Android impressed many (TiPb included), a lot of people scratched their heads when it came to the T-Mobile G1. Sure it packed a lot of features, controls, layouts, etc in one device but looks-wise it just didn’t blow anybody away. Is this really the device that Google is going to use to introduce the world to Android?
So we decided to take a closer look at the hardware and see how it compares to the iPhone 3G!
Okay, phew, it’s not just us. Seems everyone is being swept up in the iPhone vs. Android hype, including the fun(nerer)-loving folks over at College Humor, who wrote in to tell us:
Yesterday, Google introduced their new Android cell phone platform, which is expected to bring big competition to the iPhone, but people are already starting to notice a few glitches with the new phone’s features. Specifically the Did-You-Mean feature.
Visual hilarity ensues, so be sure to go check it out!
Sure, on the surface Google’s Android seems more like a shot through the heart of Windows Mobile — or the head of Palm’s Linux-based OS 2.0 aspirations — but while those platforms enjoy their own historical and market share, it’s Apple’s iPhone that has all the mind share of late. That means, despite Google’s CEO being on the Apple Board of Directors, Google’s Maps, Search, and other services having a prominent place on both devices, and — let’s face it — Google’s full on tech-crush for the iPhone — no one is going to hesitate to pit the two systems head-to-head. Including us!
So, what advantages does each one have? What drawbacks? Here they are, in our opinion: the top five iPhone vs. Android Wins and Losses… after the break!
Today is a good day, we have had a few Android related stories today here at TiPb but competition is good. It will only make Apple kick things into high gear and improve on what is arguably the top touchscreen phone on the market today. That brings us to the first thread I want everyone to check out. It’s brought to us by none other than our very own writer extraordinaire, Rene. Android vs iPhone! What are your thoughts?
Our next thread comes to you from forum member sturamsden, and he wants to talk more about the rumored 32 gig iPhone 3G. I honestly can’t see it coming out this soon but who knows… anything is possible, no? Finally here is a thread that yours truly started, how many home screen pages do you use? I found 3 home screen pages to be a perfect fit for me, how about you?
Not a member of our growing community? Head over here to join us!
Yeah, A-Day — it’s like that. No sooner did Apple announce the iPod Touch as the “funnest” ever (yet apparently didn’t tell OS X’s built in dictionary not to take issue with that obscure, yet valid usage…), then Google and T-Mobile decided to have a little, er, “fun” with it themselves:
The friendly feel of Google but funnerer, smarterer, and conecteder
No, they have to go and get with the Funnererer…er…
Well, with Windows Mobile 7 delayed until late 2009, which may be before Palm OS 2.0 even sees the light of day, and Blackberry still not even on the next generation OS radar, it’s nice to see someone taking it to Apple (even if they, with a CEO on the board of Apple, and services linked to the iPhone, may be more about complementing than competing at the moment).
Still, when the dust settles, and Steve takes the stage at Macworld 2009, we’ll just see who’s the Funnererer…est!
A-Day just goes on and on. We’re not obsessed, mind you, but for reasons outlined before, from Google’s CEO being on the Apple board, to Google services being inextricably linked into the iPhone, to Location Based (Mobile) Services and the Cloud being the Next Big Thing, this launch matters to iPhone owners almost as much as Windows Mobile (whom they’re gunning to replace) and Palm OS 2.0 (whom they may render obsolete before launch).
Curious to know more? We are! In fact, Dieter’s Meta Live Blogging the even right now over at AndroidCentral.
UPDATED: Our take, post event:
It’s not white. What’s up with that? Google is the white screen with search box. How could it be so not white?
Gmail MONSTER! Push, all sorts of management features (finally drop the beta tag??). I’d be severely jealous if, you know, Gmail weren’t so flaky for me
Complete open source platform. Stallman must be in heaven!
SIM-locked to T-Mobile. Carriers — again — FTL!
WebKit browser — not full on Chrome. Wow, if anyone had told me KHTML would become so popular, I’d have thought that about as likely as a Unix box with multi-touch sitting in my pocket right now…
This is definitely a serious play by Google to take control of the mobile market, and the advertising money that will come with it.
And most importantly, it’s a great day to be a gadget lover!
A-Day continues! AndroidCentral will have continuing coverage of T-Mobile’s new GooglePhone throughout the day, but we here at TiPb are keeping our eyes peeled for those nuggets that collide (or will collide) with the iPhone.
Okay, so Google’s CEO is on Apple’s Board of Directors, but he recuses himself from meetings about the iPhone. Okay, so Android is technically positioned to compete not against the iPhone but against the wide-range of lower end, multi-form-factor Windows Mobile devices. Okay, so the Android Market isn’t a proprietary, walled gardened like the App Store, which may please the FSF but may also turn off some developers who prefer single device targets. But at least Android is leaving the iPhone’s bread and butter alone right, it’s iPod heritage powered by the #1 music store in the US, iTunes?
Eh… Not so much. VentureBeat (via Engadget) is now rumoring that Google may just have lined up cloud-competitor Amazon to provide not only music, but TV and Movies as well. aTunes much?
What’s especially attractive about Amazon MP3 is that, while the 3@$+@29! record labels (other than EMI) deliberately withhold high quality, DRM free music from iTunes in order to give other vendors a competitive advantage, Amazon gets the good stuff from pretty much all of them. (Albeit it only in the US, but that’s the whole world anyway, right Amazon?)
Will this be announced alongside the T-Mobile G1 today? We’ll soon see!
Today is “A Day”, the day T-Mobile announces Google’s Android mobile platform (see our brand new little sibling site, AndroidCentral, for all the details and coverage) to an anxiously anticipating world. Well… mostly anxiously anticipating.
Turns out some people aren’t as interested. Is it because Google’s latest forays into content, including YouTube and Wikipedia rival Knol, and platforms, including Android and Firefox rival Chrome (and gLinux OS on the horizon?), make them think “don’t be evil” is just a sinister plan to catch the world — and our privacy — off guard and unaware? Nope. We tend to like and trust Google. What then?
Same reason some people are less than thrilled with Windows Mobile. See, while supporting multiple hardware and handsets is “choice” for the consumer, that translates into “headache” for the developer. Make a game for the iPhone, and it plays the same on every iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, and iPhone Touch on the planet. Make a game for a multi-device OS, and suddenly you have to worry: some don’t have keyboards, some have full Querty, some have T9, some don’t have touchscreens, some don’t have d-pads, some have 320×240, some have 480×800. Infinite combinations leads to infinite complication, and that’s before you even worry about bug fixing. And for some developers, including Steve Demeter who just cleared $250K from the iTunes App Store for his game, Trism, that’s a deal breaker:
“Do I want to be spending 6 months to write the game, and another 6 months making it compatible? If I had Trism available for Android, and there are 50 Android devices and every time one of them crashes (the users) contact me, do I want that?”
Sure, some developers won’t care. Freedom alone will make the effort worthwhile to them. But these are the developers already coding for Windows Mobile (or LinMo). But for others? The App Store, with all its problems (and they’re still many), maintains a value prop that’s going to be incredibly tough to beat.
