T-Mobile G1 - 3G + Android Goodness

The T-Mobile G1 has had a long run-up of interest and press.  The G1 is the first fruit of Google’s efforts to build a modern open-source touchscreen phone operating system.  Now that actual units are in consumers hands – how does it fare?  We’re collecting the best reviews here and will continue to update this post as new insights come along.  Check it out:

• T-Mobile G1 Review @ Engadget
• Review of the T-Mobile G1 Android Device @ ZDNet
• Walt Mossberg’s Wall Street Journal Review of T-Mobile G1 – “… consider it a worthy competitor to the iPhone”
• MSNBC’s T-Mobile G1 Review – “Android phone is a good iPhone alternative”

Summary of Research:

The T-Mobile G1 shows tons of potential.  Excellent ease of setup and use.  Hardware is solid (not going to oust the iPhone from teh sexy title).  The Android OS was a winner and can be improved further with more polish.  The proprietary headphone jack is an annoyance but not a deal-breaker.  Some basic apps are missing – Google is clearly counting on the open-source community to ramp up and release killer apps.

End of the Day:

The T-Mobile G1 is an impressive new device that should be around for a long time.  Once the Android developer community gets going the competition may truly have something to worry about.  For now, a very solid and interesting offering whose value should increase quickly as apps are released.