T-Mobile is launching the first Google Phone ("G1" or "T-Mobile Dream") on Tuesday

T-Mobile to Sell Android 'Dream' Phone Sept. 23?

Exciting stuff happening in the mobile market. I think the android platform will make for a lot of great phones.

Leaves me wondering what to do, though. My sprint contract is up in 2 weeks. I kinda want to get an iphone. However I've heard reception kinda sucks in Omaha, and AT&T doesn't have 3G here yet (they've been 'launching it soon' for 2 years, apparently).

An android based phone might end up being pretty cool, but I think T-Mobile's service is worse then AT&Ts. This article claims that android is coming to Sprint next year.

Do I get an Instinct for now, and hope that sprint releases an awesome android based phone soon? Also, I've heard that Instinct is supposed to be getting an update at some point that would allow Opera Mini to run on it, which would be a huge improvement over the current crappy browser, and the biggest reason why I want an Iphone over Instinct.

Decisions, decisions

My guess is that the Android platform won't initially outshine the iPhone's total hardware/software package (e.g. I bet HTC doesn't out design Apple for starters) but the biggest thing keeping me away from iPhone is the proprietary nature of the platform.

With Android, I'm at least relatively certain of an upgrade path, and if I start buying software for it I think the software would be portable to other adroid-platform hardware and allow me hardware freedom that the iPhone platform doesn't.

Ultimately, I suspect the open platform will win, but the iPhone got a big head start and it really depends on the app ecosystem to me. Right now I don't have an iPhone because they don't have the gps software I need on that platform (and may not even permit it) and because I would have to hack it to even use it in Costa Rica. An open source platform like Android is far superior on a theoretical level and I think over time the open platform will win because of that freedom.

If I were a mobile software developer I'd code where the userbase is, but I'd be hoping the userbase is on the open platform. I think if enough developers take up the platform it will eventually supersede Apple's walled garden.

By the way, can't you wait a few weeks out of contract before deciding? I don't think you need to sign a new one to maintain service and that way you can at least wait till this phone is out before deciding.

I agree that long term open source will probably win. But that could be a few years away.


I think there are enough developers excited about the platform that they will code for it just to prove the platforms worthiness. This is a good thing.


Sure, and I could ride my bicycle to work to save on gas. Doesn't mean that I want to though. I don't want to sign a new contract, but my desire for a cool new phone might outweigh that.

I might wait for this phone to come out. I am sure I won't be buying it, as I refuse to switch to t-mobile. However it might give me more of an idea of what Sprint's offering will look like.

LOL

Waiting a week or two more isn't half that bad! If the rumor is right it is launching within the next 4 weeks after your contract expires.



I'd probably do exactly that. By the way, what's the Instinct running? It sounds like an interesting one, it says "not specified" for the OS in every spec sheet I've seen and it looks like a completely custom one. I didn't see anything about an app ecosystem but it sounded like it had all the basics covered out of box.

I'm holding off on any new phone at least until I see Android phones. Windows Mobile 7 stacked up against Android and iPhone is what I'm really wanting to see.

I hope it will have a very loud speaker fone.

The last time I bought a cell fone,
I got a Nextel Motorola Model 95 because it had the loudest
speaker fone that I coud find.

I think its about time for me to get another fone;
maybe around 8 years since I got the last one.
Now it is difficult to re-charge the battery;
hard to get electrical contact for re-charging,
tho I 've gotten new batteries.





David

I'm sure you've at least seen links to the android demo videos, but I've been too lazy to every watch them till now. This demo looks promising with lots of emphasis on the gestures in the navigation:

David, you may already know this or may have reasons it doesn't work for your needs but you can just get bluetooth speakerphones (not the earpiece thing but a speakerphone) and then be free to choose from any bluetooth-enabled phones paired with an accessory that has good volume for you.

Just search for "bluetooth speakerphone" on Amazon for a lot of examples of what I'm talking about.

Thank u very much !
I will do that.





David

It is a completely custom OS

The instinct OS seems pretty good, with one exception: the browser. It doesn't allow the browser to take up the full screen, and even the the phone is 3g, the browser apparently renders very slowly. It also has worse support for javascript and such then other mobiles do.

Damnit, I might end up sticking with Sprint. It's the sensible thing to do. Its cheaper, with a better network, and the device is a phone first. Maybe the Instinct will get its update before I need to make a decision (or rather, am too anxious to wait any longer on a decision). I need to check out the HTC diamond also. It looks nice, and has an opera browser. But its running windows mobile with a touchflow app layered over the top, and I haven't heard good things about windows mobile.

As you know I've been using Windows Mobile for a while now, I think the downside of it is mainly its clumsy UI. If their touchflow shell really nails the phone/browser/music player UI I think most of the problems with it aren't going to bother you and Opera has had the best mobile browsers (at least till iPhone Safari) for a while now (and you'll get some other options in the mobile IE and other browsing tools that the iPhone doesn't allow to compete with its browser on its platform).

But the big knock I have on all these devices is hardware. The iPhone is running some pretty powerful stuff in their processor, and still managed good battery life. I think that is the big differentiating factor between all other handsets right now. I don't know of any other phone solving those basic mobile challenges as well as the iPhone right now.

Ok, this thread was good because it forced me to do some hard research. I think I am sticking with Sprint. I have to. I didn't realize that AT&T's more expensive plans don't come with text messaging. And for family plans (which I would get) it costs $30 a month for unlimited, or 20 cents/message. That puts the total plan up to $180/month. With Sprint I can get the same plan (on a better network) for $130/month. That's $600/year savings.

The price is reported to be $200.

Google’s $199 phone to compete with the iPhone

It looks 4/5 like iPhone, but seems to be better to handle.

And 'brown' obviously could become a trend colour