When you start using the G1, you realize how tied to Google the software is because the first thing you are asked to do is to enter your Google account name and password. If you use Gmail, the Google calendar, Google Talk, Google Maps, You Tube and other Google services, you will be thrilled to find that simply entering your username and password sets everything up for you. All the Google services work seamlessly and are easy to use on the phone. We were impressed to find that we could even see and control all our multiple Google calendars. The G1 phone only synchronized with the Google calendar, but if you use Outlook, you can easily install a free Google program on your computer that will automatically keep your Outlook calendar in synch with your Google calendar so you can continue to use Outlook on your PC and the Google calendar on your G1 phone.
If you don’t use the Google services, you can still access POP3 and IMAP mail accounts. There is, however, no support for Exchange email support making this more a phone for the consumer than for enterprise.
The G1 phone is completely Web centric. There is nothing to synch with your PC, everything comes down over the Web. The G1 uses the T-Mobile G3 network, which is not yet as widespread as the AT&T G3 network, but using the slower T-Mobile network was still workable. The phone also has built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Since you can use the T-Mobile hot spots for Wi-Fi access, there is usually a hot spot nearby that you can jump onto.
The G1’s functions quite well as a phone. The call clarity is excellent both sending and receiving. Not only can you use the touch screen or keyboard for making calls, but there is also a Voice Dialer that allows you to say the name of the party to initiate the call. This is something lacking in the iPhone. Bluetooth pairing and use works well as does the speakerphone which is loud and clear.
There are 3 home screens to work with. The main on in the middle has a clock, and icons for a Dialer, Contacts, Browser, and Maps by default. From this main home page, you can swipe your finger in either direction to get to the two secondary home pages. You can add icons for applications to any of the three pages and move them around on the page. Unfortunately, each desktop page is separate; you cannot drag icons from page to page as you would on an iPhone.
The main home page is shown in Figure 8. You will see a small tab at the bottom of the page. Dragging that tab up with your finger will reveal all of your application choices, as shown in Figure 9. Pressing and holding your finger on any of these icons will copy them to the page of the desktop you are on when you make this choice. You can move any desktop icon by holding your finger on it for a few seconds and dragging it to wherever you want on that page. Holding your finger on any icon for a few seconds will also bring up the trash can which you can press if you want to delete the icon.
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Figure 8: The main home page
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Figure 9: The application choices.
The applications screen shows only 16 icons at a time, but you can scroll up and down with the scroll button or your finger. The applications are listed in alphabetical order and we didn’t find any way to reorganize them any differently.
Another cool feature of the G1 is the notification bar. This can be accessed by pressing the information bar at the top of the screen and dragging your finger in a downward movement. When you pull down the notification bar you can see everything that is current on your phone including your appointments, how many email you have unread, the download status of applications, and much more.
Web surfing on the G1 is a pleasant experience. You cannot pinch and/or spread your fingers to decrease or increase the size of the webpage as you can on the iPhone. Instead you have to use the + and – icons that appear at the bottom of the screen. The keyboard makes surfing a little easier than using an onscreen keyboard. The G1 also has a keyboard button to the left of the space bar that brings up Google. If you are a dedicated Google user, you will find this very useful. The Search key can also be used in conjunction with other keys as shortcuts to other applications. For instance pressing the Search key and the b key will take you directly to the browser.
The 3.2-megapixel camera is surprisingly good. It is also quite useful thanks to a dedicated camera control button on the right side of the device, shown in Figure 10. The phone has MMS so that you can send pictures to other phones without using email. MMS is a feature lacking in the iPhone, but the iPhone can record video while the G1 does not. Also the G1 has no video playing capabilities, a function that we enjoy on some other phones.
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Figure 10: The right side of the G1.
The place to go for Google applications is called the Android Market. You just click on the Market icon and download applications directly to your phone. Like the iPhone App Store, there are hundreds of applications. Many of these add to the phone functionality. Many increase productivity, and many are just for fun. The Marketplace is even more fun than the Apple App Store because everything is free.
Playing music on the G1 is easy. You can download music directly from Amazon’s MP3 store or you can move the music to your SD card and insert it into the phone. Unfortunately, the G1 does not offer native podcast subscription and download support. You can add books or podcasts to your SD card and play them on the phone, but the G1 will not save your place in a podcast or audio book. We would like to see this functionality added.
Email works well on the G1. Everything is readable and the cut and paste function is very useful. You can view Microsoft Word and Excel documents, but you can’t edit them.
Instant Messaging on the G1 with Google Talk is wonderful. It runs in the background so you can get an IM at anytime and be notified with a little sound or a vibration. The IM also supports AIM, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.
As we used the G1, we found more and more truly useful functionality. The Google mapping on the G1 uses the built-in GPS. Perhaps one of the built-in functions that we found the most fun was the ability to set any song in your phone as a ringtone with one menu choice.
Although we loved some of the G1’s features, in two weeks of testing we didn’t have a day when the battery made it through the entire day. Even when getting only light use, the battery drains quickly. You can adjust the brightness and turn off the Wi-Fi and some other functionality to try to make the battery last longer, but we found it a futile effort. Even when we didn’t use the phone for calls, just an hour or two hours of accessing the Marketplace and using the applications, brought the G1’s battery down dramatically. If you truly want to make use of all the phone’s functionality you will find yourself tied to a charging cable.
