The Google phone doesn’t come out until next week. But I didn’t have to wait that long. The ‘T-Mobile G1‘ arrived in my mail box over the weekend and I have been playing with it ever since. This is the first phone with Google’s mobile operating software called Android.

It’s already received lots of ooh and ahhs from gadget lovers in the newsroom, including from several iPhone users. 

But three days of play (in between working on other projects) really isn’t enough for me to give a thorough review of the G1. In fact, as you read this, I’m still playing with the phone and plan to keep you updated on my discoveries for the next several days — at least until the phone actually goes on sale at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

I have taken a ton of photos, so click HERE for the slideshow. And I will offer daily briefings on the G1.

First impressions

It’s thicker than an iPhone, but hey, you get a QWERTY keyboard. I don’t mind the heft too much. Check out this photo showing the relative thickness of the G1 vs. the Apple iPhone. Still, one person noted that it sticks out in his pants pocket, unlike his iPhone.

The keyboard: From above photo, the letters on the keys are quite clear and distinct. But in person, the keys look a bit faded. While they do light up when pressed, I found it hard to see. I’m not a heavy texter so I had to keep peering down at the keys to figure out where the letters were. One potential drawback: No virtual keyboard, unlike the Apple iPhone. That means to text, type in an URL, or do any quick jotting, you’ve got to slide the phone open.

The touchscreen: Using the touchscreen is very similar to the iPhone. Just slide your finger downward to scroll down the page. If you don’t like that, the middle button below the ‘Menu’ button is also a scroll wheel. The screen was also mostly responsive. Only when I was using the Internet browser did selecting links prove difficult. I had to tap the hyperlink several times.   

3G Internet: Not so good. While T-Mobile’s ‘high-speed’ cellular Internet has already rolled out in the Orange County area, I definitely had hit and miss on service.  Web pages loaded quite slowly and when I was out of range (and hadn’t hooked up Wi-Fi), I could not access the Maps/GPS feature. I will attempt this again in a different location when I can get a stronger signal.

Android Market: Love, love this feature. This is the mobile store that offers a bunch of software applications that can be downloaded to the phone on the spot. Best part right now: All the apps are FREE! However, not present are all of the available the 1,788 apps that were entered into Google’s million-dollar contest. I spoke to a T-Mobile spokesman who said they won’t know exactly how many apps will be available on day one, but the paid apps would launch at a later date. On the G1’s launch date, all apps will be free, including Namco’s Pac-Man!

Synching e-mail, addresses, calendar: A cinch if you’re a heavy Google user. I just typed in my Gmail password and voila! All my e-mail, contacts, calendar items and other Google-related life was suddenly right on the phone. Scary (in more ways than one). 

Battery life: Still playing with this one. But I charged it up yesterday and after playing around with it all day, the battery is definitely low. “Playing” meant showing it to lots of people, downloading apps from the Android market, keeping Wi-Fi on, exploring the Web and playing Pac-Man. Not much else.

More observations to come. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know if you are interested in buying the T-Mobile G1 next week:

Posted in: Cell phones • news • Android • cell phone • G1 • Google • Google phone • T-Mobile |

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