Latest Headlines on OCRegister.com
[x] Close
The Gadgetress ~ TV, mobile and Internet: Covering technology's monthly bill
« Previous Post
Next Post »

Google phone customers in line in O.C.

October 22nd, 2008, 8:34 am · 8 Comments · posted by

**Update: 12:13 p.m. ** T-Mobile offers its observations below.
**Updates below on inventory at some local stores**

I stopped by the T-Mobile store in Bella Terra in Huntington Beach just 10 minutes before 8 a.m. and there were about 20 people in line, including Joey VanBuskirk, from Fountain Valley.

VanBuskirk was first in line, having waited since 5 a.m. to buy the new Google phone, a.k.a. the T-Mobile G1. 

“My phone got stolen and I really, really need a new phone,” he told me.

Of course, he was excited about the first phone with Google’s mobile operating system as well. But if it hadn’t been for the theft two days ago, he would have waited and ordered a phone online. Right now, if T-Mobile subscribers opt to order one online, it won’t arrive until Nov. 10.


The store employee who opened the doors up at 8 a.m. said the store had about 50 phones. After they sell out, that’ll be it until mid November.

More people were in line at the T-Mobile store at Talbert and Beach, according to folks in line who had stopped by the other store first.

Calls to various stores in Orange County showed that there are still phones available: 

  • Santa Ana: The Santa Ana store at 2130 E 17th St still has plenty of phones with a couple people still in line as of 9:32 a.m.
  • Irvine: The store at Culver and Alton had about 40 to 50 people in line. As of 9:34 a.m., there are 15 phones left.  
  • Irvine: Store at Redhill & Edinger has 10 left. The store had 27 to start.
  • Laguna Niguel: Store at 25912 La Paz Rd in Laguna Hills expects to have enough for the day. It sold about 15 this morning.
  • Mission Viejo: At the The Shops at Mission Viejo, the store had “probably about 30 left” by 9:42 a.m. About 15 were sold in the morning to people standing in line.
  • Fullerton: The store at Gilbert & Malvern (1997 W Malvern Ave) has 7 left, as of 9:47 a.m. They sold 13 already.
  • Anaheim: Store at Euclid & Broadway (261 S Euclid St) has “enough” if anyone is planning to stop by, as of 9:50 a.m. 
  • Huntington Beach: Store at 8112 Talbert Ave. was super busy. They sold ‘at least 50′ when the store opened. There are, however, about 20 phones left as of 9:55 a.m.
By the way, the black phone is definitely more popular than the brown one. While the buzz for the Google phone isn’t nearly as thunderous as it was for the Apple iPhone, I feel some stores will sell out today, given that there are only a dozen or so left at many stores. 
**UPDATE, 12:15 p.m. ** T-Mobile offers up two factoids about the G1 
  • Among those T-Mobile customers who have pre-ordered the T-Mobile G1, roughly half have traded up from a basic handset 
  • Since announcing the phone on Sept. 23rd, the T-Mobile G1 microsite has received five times the site traffic of any other major T-Mobile product launch.

   

Spotted on Twitter: Google dedicated a spot on its bare home page to promote its new phone:

Related:

Posted in: Cell phones • news • • • • •
 
ADVERTISEMENT

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Reader Comments
Comments are encouraged, but you must follow our User Agreement.
  1. Keep it civil and stay on topic.
  2. No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks.
  3. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.

 8 Comments

  • Lou says:
    October 22, 2008 at 11:53 am

    bunch of goons,i got mine for free a month ago hehehe

  • Jay says:
    October 22, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    Gadgetress,

    You need to learn how to write.. I mean it in a critical way, not a mean way. You sound very silly using words that contradict the meaning you’re after. For example:

    “I stopped by the T-Mobile store in Bella Terra in Huntington Beach just 10 minutes before 8 a.m. ” A better way to have written this would be, “I stopped by the Bella Terra T-Mobile store in HB just 10 minutes before 8 am. ”

    “Of course, he was excited about the first phone with Google’s mobile operating system as well. But if hadn’t been for the theft two days ago, he would have waited and ordered a phone online.”

    - Seriously, these two statements make you sound uneducated. Remember in elementary school when they taught us to “Never start a sentence with a proposition”? “But” falls into the proposition category. This wasn’t really what bothered me the most.

    The part that compelled me to write is everything after the “but”. Just say this out loud: “but if hadn’t been”. I understand what you meant but it sounds terrible. It would sound better saying: “Had it not been”. Since there is an assumed “it” in “but if hadn’t been”, you can not use hadn’t.. Hadn’t means “Had not”. He had not receive the letter. He hadn’t received the letter.

    The only reason I’m criticizing your writing is that you are representing the OC Register. Have fun writing and using slang but sound like you at least went to school. There is a level of professionalism working for a newspaper and grammar is probably the single most important skill a journalist should have. If you have good grammar, it’s more difficult for people to misunderstand the point you are making or the story you’re reporting.

    Hope you understand what I mean and that I’m not trying to be a mean person toward you because that’s not my intention. I also accept that I’m not the best writer but I don’t write for a newspaper.

    Best regards, Jay

  • gdb says:
    October 22, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    do not anger gadgetress….this will go down on your permanent record.

  • justin corona says:
    October 22, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    THATS ME!

  • swervin says:
    October 22, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    Jay… get a life. or should I say, get a life jay?! lame!

  • Gadgetress says:
    October 22, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    Heh — I welcome all criticism. Jay, you do have a good point. We reporters at the Reg feel so rushed and overworked, writing has gone down the tube. Plus, instead of 2 to 4 people editing our stories, most of the online stuff is read by just one other person, if that. If I can offer one lame excuse for this morning, I wrote this post in 3 minutes while sitting in my car outside the T-Mobile store. I’m definitely not spending enough time on the art of writing. Thanks for the reminder. — Gadgetress

  • Marketbuy says:
    October 22, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    Jay, chill out! It’s called a “blog”. She can write it any way she pleases without having to use proper grammar and punctuations. After all, a blog is not really considered “journalism”.

  • david amodt says:
    October 22, 2008 at 10:40 pm

    We’ve been trying to get one f/ T-Mobile w/ no luck. Looks good though

SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline