Last week, I had the pleasure of using a T-Mobile G1, otherwise known as the Googlephone or Gphone.
This is the device that runs Android, the new operating system and software platform developed by Google and others in the Open Handset Alliance, which was announced last November.
Here are two videos of what I thought about the new Googlephone. My focus in both is on broad usability. These reviews are not depth tech-focused or any other specific focus – you have plenty of choices if you want depth reviews – just my reactions and feelings about the phone.
I recorded this first review during the evening of Tuesday October 28. The Googlephone arrived late that afternoon and this was the first moment I had to actually turn the phone on and discover a little about it.
Relatively short, just over ten minutes.
I recorded my second review in the morning of Thursday October 30 – the day Googlephone went on sale in the UK – after having got to know it a bit since Tuesday, especially during my trip to Brussels the preceding day.
This review is quite a bit longer, nearly 25 minutes, as I talk about the applications I’d discovered and played with a little, notably Gmail and the browser.
Bottom line: although I had this mobile device for just 48 hours, it was enough to convince me it is the bees knees, as I mentioned in a brief post the other day.
It’s not perfect, by any means. Its major failing is that it does not support video recording. That’s a potential show stopper for me, given that I do a lot of video on my Nokia N95 8GB, notably Qik and seesmic.
On the plus side, the device is a joy to use especially the touch screen and keyboard. And yes, I really would ditch old behaviours about mobile email.
Take a look at the complete spec list to see the phone’s full capabilities.
What I’d like to do is get one today for everything except video. Wishful thinking, though! Wish I could justify the budget.
Thanks to Will McInnes of NixonMcInnes, and Brands2life, two of T-Mobile UK’s PR agencies, for lending me the Googlephone.
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Neville,
Thanks for the video. I’m looking for a replacement for my phone and currently have the HTC Touch Pro, N95 or G1 in mind.
I had a look around, and I’m not sure that video’s a permanent loss. Looking at some history, it seems that the “hooks” for video were in the 1.0 SDK during the beta phase, but dropped when it went live. In my experience, this normally happens when the creators aren’t satisfied that the code is stable enough. Which might mean that the video hooks will be put back in for the next release.
The hooks are very friendly for a developer, so if they are restored into the SDK, writing a video application should be straightforward.
Very cool design, and the large screen in the landscape mode is just awesome!
thanks for these videos.
I hope to have one soon!