The first Android-powered phone, T-Mobile’s G1, was officially released today. It comes preloaded with a varity of Google Applications (Search, Maps, Gmail, Calendar, Google Talk and YouTube). The Gmail app has most of the features of the web version (labels, conversations, etc) and Maps comes with StreetView built-in.
The phone itself isn’t a slouch either. It has a 3.2-inch TFT-LCD (at 320×480 resolution) and a full QWERTY keyboard. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera, and 8 gigs 1 gig of storage (plus a microSD slot). The phone does not have video capabilities, and it’s chained to the T-Mobile network. Undoubtedly, a unlock crack will be developed quickly.
Here is a video produced by Google showing off the phone:
And here are a bunch of photos of the device. It sure looks slick!
Google has just released a nice update for Google Maps Mobile, including StreetView and walking directions! This update is for Blackberry and other Java-enabled phone for now (no Symbian or iPhone yet), but other devices are coming soon.
You can download the update at google.com/gmm, or watch the video below for more info:
The price is expected to be roughly $200 with a two-year contract, or about $400 without. At this point, it will only be available on T-Mobile. Blech.
Engadget has posted the first good photos of the HTC Dream, running Google’s Android OS. The phone is clearly branded for T-Mobile, and we’re hoping these photos mean that it’s coming very soon. Enjoy!
It appears Google will have an app store of their own, dubbed the “Android Market”. For all intents and purposes, it will likely be very similar to the iPhone app store (download apps for your phone).
When it initally launches, it will be for free apps only, though they plan to launch paid apps at some point in the future. It will also feature much less control than the iPhone store, instead putting it on the users to flag bad apps. The hope is that this will allow apps to be released (and updated) much more quickly, and I think they might be right.
The forthcoming HTC Touch Pro reportedly will be dubbed the “Fuze” with AT&T. There is still no release date yet, but PHONE Magazine says it’s coming “sooner rather than later”. I’m a sucker for any phone with a slide out QWERTY, so this one is on my radar.
Also, the HTC Dream, long rumored to be the first phone powered by Google’s Android OS, may be coming out on November 10. The phone has just received FCC approval, with confidentiality until November 10, 2008. This seems to imply that the phone will be released on that day.
It was earlier thought to be coming in September or October, but this isn’t too bad — as long as that’s the release date.
This could be pretty handy — Google has just created an iPhone optimized version of Google Translate, which could be very useful overseas. As with other iPhone-optimized sites, it probably works quite well on any decent mobile browser.
To use it, simply point your phone to translate.google.com. Also, as their blog points out, you need to be very careful with roaming data usage, as it can add up FAST.
I don’t have any foreign trips planned for the near future, but I’ll certainly keep this in mind next time I do!
The Digital Earth Blog points us to Enkin, a very cool looking augmented reality program being developed for Google Android. Watch the video below to learn all about it:
One of my favorite applications, Google Maps for Mobile, has been updated! This version brings bus, train and ferry information right into your mobile device.
Google has been showing off some excellent new Android features at the Google I/O conference today. There are a handful of videos and a ton of pictures over on the AndroidCommunity site. Here are the videos:
