G1: qualities and faults of the first smartphone Android
The T-Mobile G1, the first smartphone platform embedding the Google Android, a lot of hopes and expectations. The drafting of BusinessMobile.fr reviewed the main features of G1, its qualities and flaws. Discovered in pictures.
An item on equipment
Manufactured by HTC, G1 measure 117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm with a weight of 158 g. His design (for the board to both a large screen and full keyboard) raises many debates. In the interior, it offers technical characteristics similar to some Windows Mobile smartphones to mark Taiwan: based on a Qualcomm MSM7201A platform, with a processor running at 528 MHz, it loads 192MB of RAM and 256 MB of internal memory, that can be provided to add 1 GB microSD card.
In Europe, T-Mobile G1 will be compatible with the 3G/3G network on the band 2100 MHz. It is also quad-band GSM / EDGE.
The touch screen of G1 measure 3.2 inches diagonally, for a resolution HVGA (320 x 480 pixels). The first smartphone Android board also WiFi connectivity 802.11b / g and a GPS receiver. The sensor provides a picture resolution of 3.2 million pixels. Note also the presence of an accelerometer and a digital compass.
The battery (removable) of 1150 mAh provides 350 minutes of autonomy in connection 3G, and 406 minutes in GSM communication, according to HTC.
The defects that are obvious
Despite the presence (for some) a real physical keyboard, and comfortable in addition, the gauge of G1, almost equivalent to that of a HTC Touch Pro, will be considered excessive by many users.
For a public terminal and multimedia, HTC, Google and T-Mobile omit several important elements. First, there is no standard headphone jack (3.5 mm jack) preventing connect stereo headphones other than those provided. However, a miniUSB adapter / Jack could be provided with the models to be marketed later in Europe. Moreover, the limited Bluetooth functionality will not connect wireless stereo headphones. Gaps amazing, especially as the T-Mobile G1 offers direct access to music kiosk Amazon with 6 million tracks in MP3 format without DRM.
Video side, the sensor camera does not record video. And the T-Mobile G1 is much less play videos, except those from YouTube, direct access. While the absence of video player will be quickly remedied by third-party applications to download on the Android Market, it is a feature standard on a smartphone which we would have welcomed the presence at the launch of the machine.
On the extension memory, T-Mobile G1 will not, it seems, support microSD cards of more than 8 GB bad.
The minor defects
G1 offer a nice tactile interface optimized for finger, it is not “multi-touch” (handling several fingers), an exclusive Apple at the moment.
It accuses already T-Mobile G1 not be able to serve as wireless modem, or to support the professional messaging system Microsoft Exchange. For a smartphone “assumed” as the general public, these shortcomings do not appear on this vital terminal in particular … On messaging, G1 offers, in addition to Gmail, support for POP3 mail accounts and IMAP.
Also note that these gaps are not definitive, since the Android platform could later manage these two functions to other terminals for a more mixed-use (personal / professional).
What the T-Mobile G1 offers, unlike the iPhone
The T-Mobile G1 offers some basic features for a phone that the iPhone does not: for example support for MMS, or voice dialing.
The integration of Web services Google and synchronization between the Web and terminal (for mail, contacts, calendar) is obviously the highlight of T-Mobile G1, as all future terminals by Google Android.
The function was particularly Google Maps worked, and goes further than the version of Google Maps on the iPhone. In addition to maps, satellite views and traffic information, Google offers Street View service, which offers panoramic views of certain locations. The T-Mobile G1 carrying digital compass, you can really be guiding and moving in an unknown location.
The smartphone Android proposes a “copy and paste, which by its absence on the iPhone. A long press on a field containing data or text or a text, and a text menu appears, to cut or copy. Even operation in the field of destination, press and hold the area to paste. These manipulations operating in all applications where text fields appear (contact book, web browser, etc.).. This function is not perfect: it is difficult to select only part of a text.
The shop Android software appears Market, in principle, more open than the Apple Store App: no censorship from Google or T-Mobile on applications that are available. For developers, referencing the process of the application on Android Market has been simplified to the maximum, according to Google.
The first smartphone Android is not terminal perfect, that perhaps some enthusiasts hoped. But he deserves to leave glimpse a promising platform. Everything will depend on the ability of manufacturers and operators to use Android and the ability of developers to offer many interesting third-party applications that will change easily in mobile Android.
One Response to “G1: qualities and faults of the first smartphone Android”
By logan on Oct 22, 2008 | Reply
do you have to bye ethernet for this to work correctly?