T-Mobile G1 and Android Print
Written by Steve Wilson   
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 00:00
Today marked the historic unveiling of the T-Mobile G1, the cellular carrier’s newest smart phone. The release was greeted with great fanfare, including a live web cast. However, it is not the new multifunction GPS enabled phone that is extraordinary, but rather the fact that the G1 is the first smart-phone to employ the much anticipated open-sourced Android platform from net giant Google.

While Google maintains that open sourcing the development tools for this platform will increase available applications and spark innovations well beyond the capabilities of any proprietary OS, some would be users aren’t so sure. Huge pieces of development including Flash support and MS Exchange compatibility are being left to third party developers, and such shortcomings are leaving potential “androids,” especially business clients, hesitant to embrace the new technology. They fear poor development and lack of standardization of apps will derail mainstream users.

However the open source technology does have its advantages. First, Android doesn’t differentiate between preloaded options and third party applications. Don’t like the calendar feature of your G1? Download another one! GPS application too complicated? Replace it! In fact every single feature of the Android platform is said to be interchangeable. In a world where we customize everything from license plates to Myspace pages, the Android OS is leaps ahead of any competitors.

Secondly, early reviews indicate that the standard interface is both intuitive and, more importantly, fast. Android supports multiple apps running simultaneously with many application offering optional alerts when completed. Also, users who frequent popular Google services such as G-mail, Google Talk, or Google Maps will find that the OS offers almost seamless access to these applications. Although we are told that the Google brand is marginalized in many places, the influence on the functionality of the OS can’t be missed.

Finally, the open source software does allow potentially unlimited development of user applications. Want a virtual pet for your G1? Post it on the developer forums. How about an application to catalog your collection of antique quilts? With Android, it is not only possible, but likely. And therein lays the excitement.

Whether or not you use Google or not or whether the T-Mobile G1 can live up to its reputation of the I-Phone contender of the year is not really important here, but rather that today, with the release of the G1, a phone not designed FOR the internet, but rather BY the internet, has marked a historic change in the communications industry. It is not without a great amount of respect that I say…..

“Mr. Watson, come here, I need my G1!”
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 October 2008 22:10 )