T-MOBILE G1

A Solid First Try for Google Android



The first-ever Google Android smartphone is a respectable initial effort that. given an open development platform. willgrow with time. It's missing a bunch of key features, such as a decent mediaplayer and support for corporate e-mail. But the G1, manufactured by HTC. is a quality phone with few bugs.I'm confident that more features are on the way.

The 5.6-ounce Cl looks like a grown-up Sidekick. It has a big 3.2-inch. 320-by-480-pixel touch screen that's bright and responsive. Volume and camera controls are on the sides oft he handset, and the 3-megapixel camera is on the back. Slide the screen up to reveal a comfortable little QWERTY keyboard. You get about 60MB of available space for apps and data, as well as a slot for a microSD memory card.

A quad-band EDGE. dual-band HSDPA phone (1,700/2,100 ). the GI works on T.Mobile's 2G and 3G
networks in the U.S. and on high-speed networks overseas. We achieved 6004-to-700-kilobit-per-sec-
ond speeds in the GI's browser on the 3G network which is fairly typical for a 3G phone. We also con-
nected to our WPA2-secured 802.1Ig wireless network without a problem.

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Calls on the GI sound terrific, at least to the user, the person on the other end may hear background noise. E-mail reads well, but attachment support is poor. As you might expect fro m a Google phone, the GI has one of the best Web browsers around. There are holes in the phone's media capabilities: There's no video player or video camera, for example. Nonetheless, the Cl is a phone with a bright future that's worth checking out.-Saseha San



PC Magazine January 2009