[Ben]

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-devices/news/2008/09/23/T-Mobile-Launches-G1--The-First-Android-Handset/p1

Let’s just cut to it shall we…
Goodbye Dream, what we have today is the ‘T-Mobile G1’ – the world’s first Google Android based mobile phone and it certainly packs in a few surprises.

Firstly the basics: all the spy shots were correct, the G1 is a touchscreen smartphone with sliding physical keyboard, full html browser and all the Google related apps you’d expect (mail, maps, etc etc). As for the unknown specifics there is good news when it comes to size and weight with the G1 thinner and lighter than expected at 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 inches and 5.6 ounces. A 2GB microSD card will come in the box but native memory is expected not to be significant.

Also noteworthy is the 3.2in screen's 480 x 320 HVGA resolution – not the full VGA perhaps some were hoping for but a match for a certain Apple handset. The 3MP camera is also a step up and comes with photo sharing capabilities. Software collaboration is predictably strong too with a portable Amazon MP3 store built in to go head to head with mobile iTunes. 6m DRM free tracks will be available over WiFi but not 3G.

YouTube, Flickr and instant messaging support is also there along with POP3 and IMAP email service though not Microsoft Exchange support which positions it firmly as a consumer rather than business device.
Launch will be in November with price plans not yet broken down though we know it will be free on any contact costing £40pm or more. PAYG will not be an option at launch.

I’m now off to get some hands on time with the handset and will report back with some first impressions and live shots…

Update: Exchange support may be coming soon and the Android Market app store (above) will be live from day one. It has also been confirmed at the store will be unregulated, much in the way designers can write programmes for Windows or Linux with user feedback the primary method of protection. Genius or liberal madness? We'll soon know.

Update: Oddities - well there's no flash on the camera and no autofocus and get this NO video recording and NO copy and paste. Oh no we'll never hear the end of it from Apple, Windows, Symbian fans - in fact everyone! Still, I guess someone will be making an app to do them as we speak. The beauty of an open system Cupertino...
I can't imagine folk queueing up for one. I'm all for competition in the mobile handset OS market, though, so may this (please) be the first of many.

[getti]

exclusive to T-Mobile also (and as i work for them i cant wait to get my hands on 1!).

Looks a really nice phone

[gorilla]

Hmmm not sure it's the iPhone killer people were hoping for. It does look like a decent phone but not what I was expecting.

I was hoping for a sim free option, given what android is supposed to be about i.e. open source. Why is it that we are increasingly being forced to buy a handset with a contract?

I'm a big user of google products, and android appeals to me, but T-Mobile? They're as bad as O2.

Roll on G2!

[getti]

but T-Mobile? They're as bad as O2.

Roll on G2!

That is not actually possible. No one is as bad as O2*

* Terms and conditions apply, 3 actually have the worst service

[gorilla]

oh and no copy and paste, I mean is it really that difficult?

[Ben]

This HTC 'brick' doesn't look like a particularly nice device by any standards. I think this will very much be an early-adopters' Android phone.

But that's just the point - Android is all about the OS, not the phone. It'll be available on more phones in due course and that's when it'll get exciting. Windows Mobile needs some healthy competition :D

[getti]

oh and no copy and paste, I mean is it really that difficult?

lol coming from an iPhone user :D

[maxspank]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7630888.stm

There's a video on the bbc demonstrating it, I think it looks pretty good.

[Ben]

I thought it looked... a bit naff? :S I mean it didn't look too bad, but when he was trying to browse the BBC site - urgh! Mobile Safari and the iPhone's multi-touch is so much more intuitive.

[Hands0n]

It has been a while coming and it is good to see the first Android handset arrive. We should not look to it to be the [now] legendary Apple iPhone killer. Rather, I think we should look at the Android-based handset as the first step in the evolution of that particular OS in the same way as we see the iPhone's OS X being the first step in that specific evolution.

All of the criticisms of the iPhone will be levelled at this beastie, that is the nature of the Holy Wars that we call technology. Windows Mobile users will not countenance any competing handset and will despise all that appear to try. They've had a clear field until the past 18 months.

Would I buy into this handset and its technology? No, not yet. To suggest that any company has the interface between man and machine sussed out like Apple would be folly. I am not yet ready to believe that Android and HTC combined have brought into being a handset that is as intuitive to use as the Apple iPhone. I'll cast early judgement on that when I see the G1's manual, or lack of one to be more precise.

If the G1 requires a manual then it has already fallen behind the iPhone.