One Week With A G1
It’s been one week since my new T-Mobile G1 Android smartphone arrived via the man in the brown suit. I had to order it online, because T-Mobile has not rolled out their 3G network in the Kansas City area yet. The roll-out has been delayed to January. As a result, the local T-Mobile stores are not selling the G1 yet, and the local WalMarts have recalled their stock until the roll-out. I didn’t want to wait, so I ordered online.
So, this ‘review’ is based on T-Mobile’s EDGE network connectivity, not 3G.
It took several hours to get the phone activated. I went online and switched my phone and activated a G1 data plan. It told me it had added the plan and removed my previous non-G1 data plan. Perfect. Except that it didn’t remove the old data plan. I had switched my SIM card from my old phone to the new one, but no joy trying to activate. I waited a while, tried again, nothing. Finally, I called customer service. Well, I called after I switched the SIM card back to my old phone so I could use it. My wife and I have gone wireless, and canceled our land line, so a working cell phone is the only ‘home’ phone we have right now. I called, got a place on the call back queue and waited for the call back. The agent fixed the data plan issue and told me everything was set up, and that I should be able to activate it shortly. I checked online, and couldn’t access my T-Mobile account info for an hour or so. When it was available, I was able to swap SIM cards, again, and activate the phone.
I tried out all of the basic functionality, checked my email, surfed the web, etc. All of my Google stuff was sync’d fine. I then hit the ‘Android Market’ to download some apps. The first I download was ‘Ringer Control’, and app written by my friend Kelly. It either turns off the ringer, or sets it to vibrate when the phone is face down on a table, or upside down in a pocket. I also downloaded an SSH client, and proceeded to log into a work server to check on it’s status. There is a good selection of apps and games, a few really nice apps, and all free (for now). The download/install process is pretty painless, and Android tells you what services and information the app will have access to before you start the download.
Overall, I give Android a B+. It is fast, stable, and the UI is pretty decent. I give Microsoft Windows for Smartphones a D, at best. So, this is a big improvement. I haven’t had to reboot the phone to fix any weird problems, or reclaim leaked memory. It’s not as stylish as the iPhone UI, but it works.
Google integration rates a B-, maybe a C+. I can’t send an email to one of my GMail groups. When I hit the search key while in the TO: field of the gmail client, it does a search of all of my emails, instead of putting me in my contact list. Pocket Outlook got this one right. This knocks it down a level on the ‘Just works’ list. There is no easy way to send an email to multiple recipients, other than start typing addresses and select as it searches.It won’t search by name, unless it’s part of the email address. That sucks. I’m thinking C+.
Speaking of email, and such. Why do I need 3 different clients for gmail, other email, and text messaging? And why does the IMAP/POP client utterly fail to send notifications of new email when the screen is locked? The Gmail client and messaging client can do it. Messaging, overall, is a C-.
I was able to set up the IMAP client to pick up my work email. Actual Exchange integration would be nice. Even if it isn’t ‘push’ email. But the least you can do is actually set an alert or notification when I get new mail. Even when the screen is locked. It’s been done.
The hardware is decent, the form factor works better for me than my Dash. The screen is nice, clear, bright, and the touchscreen works pretty well, even with a protective cover. Only time will tell if the moving parts hold up. Battery life is OK, no worse than my Dash. The keyboard is fine. I like the layout, other than the period key which is not where I’m used to it. But, it works. The keys are flatter than on my Dash, but spread out more. I haven’t typed enough to get used to the new keyboard, I think I will like it.
At this point, I will still give the phone a B. But, there is work to be done…
I Wanted an iPhone, But I Got a G1
Well, I haven’t got the G1 yet. I ordered it, but it hasn’t arrived. The local T-Mobile store and Walmart don’t have the G1 to sell yet. T-Mobile hasn’t rolled out their 3G network in Kansas City yet.
I’ve been carrying a T-Mobile Dash smartphone for two years. It has been functional, but that’s about it. The hardware is decent enough, but the OS is atrocious. It has all of the worst of the desktop version crammed into a handheld. I still find it difficult to believe that I have to reboot my phone periodically (every few days) to reclaim the memory lost to memory leaks. It wouldn’t be so bad, except to get it to reboot in one try I have to remove the microSD card until it is up and running. Apparently, the 6.0 version of Windows Mobile for Smartphones has a buggy DLL that handles memory cards. So, the phone will go into a reboot loop until the memory card is removed. Nice. Enough about the past.
So, why a G1 and not an iPhone? As an Apple user (a Macbook Pro, and a Mac Mini), I am naturally drawn to the iPhone. It looks nice, the UI is nice, and it just works. But, I didn’t want to change carriers. I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for a long time and the service has been good and the prices are better than the competition. Also, one of the things like I liked about the Dash is the real qwerty keyboard. I just don’t like the touch screen keyboard on the iPhone. It’s too slow to use, and error prone. I guess the last downside of the iPhone for me is that it is an appliance. It’s a closed ecosystem. You must use it as it was intended. Sure, you can jail break it and load apps on it. But, it’s a running battle with Apple over control of your phone.
The G1 and it’s OS, Android, are a wide open frontier. At least compared to the iPhone. And, it has a real keyboard. I’m not crazy about sliders, but it’s an acceptable compromise. I’ve already downloaded the SDK and wrote the ‘Hello, World‘ for Android. It may rekindle my desire to write Java code again. I played around with J2ME in the past, but the phones were too limited and the development environment too compromised to be interesting to me. The G1 is neither.
My friend Kelly has been writing apps for his G1 for a month or two. So, I will have a local support group (of one) to fall back on when I get stuck. I can let him blaze the trail and clear out the brush ahead of me.
It’s all up to the UPS man now.
I wish I had an iPhone.
I wish I had an iPhone. I’m definitely not the first to say that, or think it. In fact, I was wishing for an iPhone long before they were announced. Or, I was wishing for a mobile phone that was different from what I had, and different from what was available. It turned out the iPhone fulfills most of what I was looking for.
About a year and a half ago I traded my Palm Tungsten C PDA, and Motorola V600 phone for a T-Mobile Dash smartphone. I had been a long time Palm user, and T-Mobile customer. The Dash was the closest thing I found to replace my two devices with one. Since that switch I’ve had a lot of time to reconsider my choice, and how well it has worked for me. Let me dispense with the suspense: Windows Mobile 6.0 for Smartphones sucks. The Dash hardware has been a resounding “meh”.
The Windows Mobile experience starts with the interminable wait for the phone to boot up. There is no good reason for a phone to take this long from power up to the time it is able function as phone. Mine has the extra bonus of now repeatedly rebooting for a random period of time. I’ve let it reboot itself for over an hour to see if it ever was able to boot. Now, I just keep it on all the time. At night, I put it on the charger and turn off the ringer.
Unfortunately, the fail just keeps on coming after it boots. One of the reasons I choose the Dash was the WiFi capability. When it works, it works okay. Not great, not good, but okay. To turn it on means pressing the ‘Start’ button (modeled after everyone’s favorite Windows feature) and scrolling to find the comm manager application, turning on the WiFi radio. Then ‘Settings’ , ‘Wi-fi’, ‘Wi-fi Networks’, and either pick one that displays or press ‘new’, etc, etc. I don’t like doing that much work to use WiFi on a desktop or laptop, with a decent UI and pointing device. It really sucks to do it on a handheld device with a compromised UI and 4-way controller.
This points out the main flaw with Windows Mobile 6.0 for Smartphones. It is like it’s name, too much button pushing for the benefit. Everything takes too much UI interaction, too much typing on a compromised keyboard, too much scrolling on a compromised screen.
I’ve added a number of 3rd party applications (at considerable cost) to try and make the phone more usable. It has helped, but some of the apps, Pocket Explorer and Pocket Outlook come to mind are just beyond salvage. I’ve been waiting for one of the several Explorer replacements to arive, but none are stable enough to rely on. I’ve tried several replacement mail clients. While some were improvements in basic functioning, they all try to pile on too many other marginal features that get in the way of basic function.
I won’t go into the entire debacle of trying to sync my Dash with my Apple MacBook Pro.
So, why an iPhone? I’ve played with the iPhone several times. I’ve spent time performing the types of operations I (try to) use my Dash for. And, it works. It works well. Apple continues to show us what a good UI looks like, and how it works.
And why haven’t I bought one yet? I’m not ready to pony up the considerable sum for an iPhone, and until AT&T and Apple have a 3G iPhone to offer, I’ll wait.
Moving On
Well, it’s been a good run, 6 or 7 years. But, the time has come to fish or cut bait. I have decided to cut bait. I have finally abandoned the Palm OS. Over the weekend I purchased a new device to replace my phone and my current Palm PDA. I have owned four Palm PDAs since 1998, or so. My first was a Palm Pilot Professional, purchased on clearance at CompUSA. It boasted a black and white screen and 2mb of memory. It would run for weeks on a pair of AAA batteries. I eventually upgraded it with a memory card that turned it into a Palm III. It had a upgraded OS, as well as bumping memory up to 8mb. I carried it constantly, storing my calendar and contacts on it. It was the first time I ever consistently kept up a calendar, since it would sync up with Outlook on my PC. Around the same time I aquired my first cell phone, a Nokia that was included free with a 1 year contract.
After a nasty encounter with one or more cars on a busy Kansas City street, what was left of my Palm Pilot Pro/III was retired. I found a deal on a Palm IIIxe online, and made the purchase. It had the same 8mb memory, but with a grayscale display, and a better design. It served me quite well for a year or two. I was now carrying a company mandated Nextel Motorola phone, you know the rubber encased construction worker brick. Palm PDAs were quite popular within the company, and there was interest in developing software for them as part of a larger enterprise project. I was given a Palm m515 to use for development and for my personal use. I sold the IIIxe to a coworker and reveled at the new unit. It had an aluminum body, a color screen, 16mb or memory, and a SD memory slot. The only thing missing was some sort of network communication ability. I did have a data cable that would allow me to connect the Palm to my Nextel phone and get dial-up access to the internet. That was interesting for a few days.
I carried the m515 for a year or so, then I found the Palm PDA I had been waiting for: the Tungsten C. 400mhz processor, 64mb ram, SD slot, color screen at 320×320 resolution, a QWERTY keyboard, and best of all: WiFi! It has served me well for over 2.5 years. I have used the wifi at home and at work. I have acquired a variety of programs, and a few accessories. During this time I have never been interested in any of the Windows Mobile based PDAs. Very few of them were as powerful as my T|C and those that were cost far more. I had never found another PDA, Palm or other, that looked like a likely upgrade path. I have been watching the Treo smartphones since they arrived. But, until the Treo 700p arrived, I wasn’t interested. The 700 had the memory, but gave up processor speed, and WiFi. And, the cost, $3-400 for a downgrade. And, I didn’t want to change carriers. I’ve had a T-Mobile account for 6+ years, and have been happy with the service and cost. But, T-Mobile quit carrying the Treo line before the 700 arrived.
So, I haven’t been paying to much attention to the whole smartphone market, since nothing really hit my requirements: smaller than my Palm T|C, QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, T-Mobile, and optionally Palm OS. Then, last week I caught news of a new offering from T-Mobile, the Dash. The size is right, the keyboard is right, the WiFi is there (as well as GPRS/Edge, and Bluetooth), and it’s T-Mobile. What’s missing? Processor speed is half my T|C, screen resolution is lower (as is the size), and it has the Windows Mobile for Smartphones OS.
I decided that Palm wasn’t going to produce a Treo that hits my requirements at a price point I’m willing to accept and even if they did, T-Mobile wasn’t going to carry it. It is going to be rough converting to the new smartphone. I use a PC with Lotus Notes at work, and a Mac at home, so syncing is going to be an ordeal. But, now that I will always be carrying it, it can now be the unit with the master calendar and contact list. I rarely carried my Palm on weekends or after work hours. Combined with a cell phone, it was just too much stuff.
