Posts Tagged ‘G1’
Vodafone announces its Blackberry Storm date and then updates it
Vodafone today put out a press release announcing the launch of the Blackberry Storm on November 14 and also said that it was taking pre-orders. However, in a few short hours, the delivery date was updated on the pre-order page to be November 18th. Boy Genius Report, who reported this first, believes that Vodafone botched the launch. However, I feel that they are playing safe and taking a page out of the Android G1 phone where they announce a delivery date and deliver it earlier than expected. Let’s see how it plays out.
Walmart to sell Android based G1
Starting tomorrow, Walmart will start selling the Android based, HTC Dream G1 in about 550 stores nationwide. The phones will be priced at $148.88 with 2 year contract, which represents a discount of $31.11 from the price T-Mobile is selling at its stores.
[Via Engadget]
Google’s G1 launches
Today is D-Day for the Google’s Android-based, HTC designed Dream G1. Finally, it is available for public to buy at the T-Mobile shops around the nation. Based on early reports, there is brisk demand for the phone with people spending upto three hours in the line to get the phone, but it is no where near the frenzy for iPhone, according to the Reuters blog. Simultaneously, the Android Marketplace from Google has also gone live with about 50 applications. Technically, the Marketplace was running last week when the first pre-orders began arriving at customers’ doorsteps. Google has said that it would not take a cut for the applications sold through the Marketplace. However, after deducting carriers’ cut and other expenses, the developers will get 70% of the revenue, akin to the Apple App Store. Another interesting twist that Google has put in is the delay of launching for-pay applications to Q1, 2009. According to MobileCrunch, this delay gives Google to test the Marketplace thoroughly and also build goodwill with customers who can download applications for free and sends download numbers higher.
Google’s Android Phone reviews
There are a bunch of reviews out of the Google’s Android based, HTC Dream G1 phone which will be out on October 22. First is the review by Walter Mossberg of AllThingsD who has been playing with this phone for a while and has this to say:
G1 is a very good first effort, and a godsend for people who prefer physical keyboards or T-Mobile but want to be part of the new world of powerful pocket computers.
Another review is by Om Malik of GigaOm who has this to say about the phone:
This isn’t an iPhone competitor. If you look at it, you can very quickly see that the G-1 is a Honda to iPhone’s BMW. After a few days of usage I have become increasingly convinced that people who like the Apple iPhone will find Google-based G-1 aesthetically lacking.
Another review is by David Pogue of New York Times whose G1 report card sums it up very nicely:
software, A-. Phone, B-. Network, C.
While all three focused on all aspects of the phone, I liked the way David focused his argument around the three major parts that make the phone work, namely the software, the hardware and the network. Other bloggers have be so psyched by Google developing the phone software that they tend to oversee other aspects of the phone that makes the user experience great.
First Android phone shipping
It appears that some of the customers who pre-ordered the HTC Dream G1 from T-Mobile are getting their phones by this Friday. The HTC Dream G1 is of course the first Android based phone. According to Boy Genius Report, a number of customers got their shipping notices today. For those of us who have not pre-ordered, our wait won’t be too long considering that it is slated to release on October 22. Kudos to HTC, T-Mobile and Google for shipping the phone early. RIM better take some lessons from these guys.
Will pricing blow the Storm away to sea?
Yesterday, I visited the local Verizon Wireless store. While talking to the salesperson about the Blackberry Storm, he indicated that the phone will be available by mid-November, possibly as late as Black Friday. That is understandable. However, given the delays with Blackberry Bold, one has to wonder whether RIM will ever get its act together and launch the Storm on time. Of course, they have been careful with not committing any specific dates for the launch but rumors have been for early November launch and Best Buy is preparing to launch it November 16.
The other piece of information was the pricing. According to the salesperson, the phone would cost somewhere between $300 and $400 with 2 year contract and contract free it is somewhere around $750. If this is accurate, I have only one thing to say to both RIM and Verizon Wireless: What are you thinking?
With iPhone starting at $199 with contract and the HTC Dream G1 slated to cost between $150 and $250, why would anyone shell out $300 or more for the Blackberry Storm, especially when its features are on par with some of these phone and way below the phones like the Nokia N96 or Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X1 which fall in the $700+ price range. It is even more insane when Vodafone, Verizon Wireless’ parent is giving it away for free with 18 month contract.
Given this economy, pricing it high is a sure recipe for lower sales. No wonder than that Microsoft is lurking and playing a waiting game. Lets hope some saner minds prevail and the pricing is more competitive!
HTC Dream G1 pre-announcement leaks
Live Update: The device will be locked in to T-Mobile network. T-Mobile to launch its biggest marketing campaign for the G1. Android has Chrome-Lite browser, shares the same base as desktop Chrome. G1 will work with DRM free music and will work internationally.
Live Update: The G1 to cost $179 and can be ordered online with $25 & $35 data and messaging options. The device to launch October 22 80% of US 3G markets to be covered by year end. UK launch to happen in November. The G1 has ability to read MS Word and Adobe PDF documents, no MS Exchange capabilities. No desktop synchronization, only OTA synchronization.
Live Update: They are demoing the Google Maps application with street view and Compass feature which shows 1-st person view of the location and directions. They have games including PacMan.
Update: In a separate news release, Amazon has said that it will have over 6 million DRM-free songs available on G1 at launch.
As you know or might have heard, today is the day of the official T-Mobile launch of the HTC Dream G1, the Android-based phone. The press conference has begun and you can see the recorded version here. However, there are a few photos and specs of the HTC Dream G1 phone leaked before the conference thanks to TMoNews.com. The specs are as follows:
The photos are from the T-Mobile G1 site which show some of the Google applications like GMail, Maps which will be available on the G1. So, now the wait is almost over and the Dream becomes a reality.
More photos of HTC Dream
Here are some additional photos of the upcoming HTC Dream in the wild courtesy of rizzn.com. Some lucky dude in Googleplex got this device lying around for him to play and tease us. So, get teased and wait for the announcment coming on September 23. In the meantime, start saving $200 for the phone :).
HTC Dream to cost $200?
Sources inside the Android development say that HTC Dream will cost $199 with contract at T-Mobile according to CrunchGear. This falls within the $150 to $250 price earlier reported. There is no word how much it would cost without the contract yet. However, according to CrunchGear source, the T-Mobile subsidy was not large.
HTC Dream G1 slimmer than iPhone?
Correction: According to AndroidGuys, the G1 will have Bluetooth on board. However, there will not be an API available for developers to program the Bluetooth feature.
The HTC Dream G1 which has cleared the FCC hurdle is slimmer than iPhone. While G1 measures 115 x 55-mm, the iPhone measures 115.2-mm x 62.1-mm. However, because the G1 has a keyboard, it will be thicker than the iPhone. Despite these dimensions, the G1 is not the slimmest touch phone. That honor goes to another HTC product, the Touch Diamond which is 102 x 51-mm. The G1 should be launching on T-Mobile in the next few months. You can read the reviews and photos here and here. Thanks to the photo from AndroidGuys, you can see what to expect in the phone, including the slight tilt at the bottom and a trackball like Blackberry. However, as I had mentioned earlier, Google was having trouble trying to get all the features into the Android OS. Well, today, Dan Morrill, a Developer Advocate for Android, wrote on Android Developer Blog that they were not able to include the Bluetooth and GTalkService will not make it on the 1st version of the OS. Now, for those of us living in states and countries that have hands-free laws while driving, what are we to do?
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