1:00 AM
El DiPablo
The word is out on the streets. The first Open Source, Google based Android phone hit the market running in the United States Monday as T-Mobile announced the release at a press conference in New York. You can watch the press conference here: (Tmobile G1 Launch)
I was very excited to hear about the news. After all I am a huge fan of Open Source, and Android seems like a pretty cool platform to bring Open Source mobile software to the forefront. However, there two key features I look for when shopping for a PDA phone:
- Microsoft Exchange Support
- The ability to sync with Outlook
Sure surfing the net via handheld is pretty cool and useful, but when I carry around a nerd sized phone, it had better keep me up to date on my business emails, and calendar of events.
Here is a list of the features [Via Engadget]:
HSDPA 1700 / 2100 plus quadband EDGE- WiFi
- 3D graphics acceleration
- 1GB integrated storage plus microSD expansion
- 3-megapixel camera
- Android Market for on-device app purchases
- Amazon MP3 app for on-device music purchases
- Push Gmail support with full HTML client
- Bluetooth (but no A2DP)
- Google Maps with Street View
- No Microsoft Exchange support
- No desktop synchronization -- it all happens over the air
Still though, maybe I am being too harsh. For $179, this is probably one of the most affordable out there for the average consumer. I think I might try to talk my wife into getting one, but it might be a hard sell without Outlook support. Sure she uses Gmail, and the Google calendar sync, but that still does not sync all of her calendar info, and don't get me started with contacts.
What's your take? Are you going out to get a G1? Do you know someone who has one yet? Hit me up in the comments.
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