The first ever Google Android phone was unveiled by T-Mobile yesterday, yet no one really seams to care. Come on, this is Google we’re talking about, and a majority of the news sites and blogs only had the slightest mention of it.
I would have expected a product with the Google name on it to have been much more covered by the media. I mean, it is Google after all. When Apple released it’s 2nd iPhone, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing multiple stories about the iPhone…. with the Google phone, unless you knew it was coming, you probably missed the big news all together.
It’s a shame really, as the Google powered phone offered by T-Mobile actually has some things that make it better than the iPhone. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ditching my iPhone for an Android phone, but let’s take a look at what’s going on here.
First off it is cheaper than even the cheapest iPhone. The iPhone 3G costs $199, the T-Mobile G1 phone cost $179.
Slide out QWERTY keyboard. Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone on screen keyboard is nice but it does get in the way. With a slide out keyboard you don’t lose your screen space while typing messages and emails. Those that have a sidekick phone should feel right at home with the G1.
It syncs with Google Calendars. This is one thing that pisses me off about the iPhone, and I don’t know who I should be mad at… Google or Apple. My wife and I both use GMail for our email, and with that we also use Google Calendars. It’s just awesome. But, I cannot sync the 6 or 7 calendars that I have (Entertainment, Bills, personal, work, etc.) to my iPhone or even MobileMe. What’s up with that?
3 megapixel camera. The iPhone only has a 2 megapixel camera, the G1 phone has a 3 megapixel camera. 3 > 2, nuff said.
MMS. This is really the big thing. Apple for some stupid reason still does not have MMS built into the iPhone, instead AT&T users are forced to use the horrendous viewmymessage.com service to view MMS items sent to them. T-Mobile/Google’s G1 phone supports MMS.
Open Source. Some people will always argue that Open Source = better. I don’t know that’d I would go that far, but it will certainly make developing apps for Andriod based phones easier and faster than developing for the iPhone. Especially with iPhone developers still locked down by a NDA.
So, the G1 has a number of advantages over the iPhone. But the biggest advantage is that it isn’t limited to a single phone. The G1 is just the first phone running Android, we’re sure to see more phones on more carriers from more manufacturers running Andriod as time progresses. Unless something drastic happens with Apple, the iPhone OS will always be limted to the iPhone. Period.