Could it be? Is there finally a viable alternative to the iPhone from all fronts? Aesthetics and functionality? Is there a competitor to the iPhone which will finally allow me to not only reduce my Apple collection of products, but finally rid myself of iTunes? Read on.
First and foremost, a precursor. I've been the [somewhat] proud owner of a first generation iPhone that has been jailbroken and unlocked to work with T-Mobile. The phone has been wonderful. WiFi has been as reliable and seamless as WiFi connectivity you'd expect out of a laptop or wireless desktop equivalent. Applications like Cydia and Installer make application downloading a cinch. Internet surfing has been a blast with Safari. SMS conversations were both beautiful and functional. Overall, the phone is both responsive and stylish, functional and beautiful, as it were. But, as with anything, nothing is perfect, and neither is the iPhone.
This is going to sound like a hater clinic, but please don't take my criticism as such. The iPhone hosts a myriad of shortfalls that have yet to be remedied by Apple. One of the most basic features of all time, MMS, is not present on a jailbroken device. And even if you jailbreak your device, you have to settle for an application by the name of SwirlyMMS. Whilst this is the only option to solve the lack of MMS, it is hardly reliable, nor comprehensive. It does not support all picture file types, and it only supports picture file types. This means no audio, no video, no anything other than pictures. The reliability has certainly been improved since the last version of the application, but it should be embarrassing to Apple that users have to rely on an application only available to hacked phone users to fix the lack of MMS functionality on the iPhone.
Copying and pasting is still non-existent, although Apple says they're working on that functionality. Landscape mode whilst texting does not exist at all. Safari memory management leaves much to be desired, as I've viewed many web pages with multiple images that caused Safari just to crash outright. Bluetooth connectivity, whilst works just fine for speaking hands free, is handcuffed otherwise. No file sending can come about. This is pretty obvious due to Apple's continued stance on limiting file sharing via their devices. Ringtone usage is also hackneyed, as you can not use existing MP3s as your ringtones. Unless you have a hacked device, you must pay for all your ringtones from the iTunes Store. And the biggie (to me) - no real keyboard. The iPhone boasts an entire interface dependent on nothing but touch screen interaction save for a single home button. For some people, the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard is awful. Good luck typing on the iPhone without looking. This is mostly due to lack of haptic feedback (i.e. some sort of response from the phone to your fingers indicating a button was pressed). Apple contends that you can type on the iPhone faster than anything once you get the hang of it, but I disagree. I've had it since January, and I must say that I prefer a full QWERTY (real) keyboad than the iPhone's touchscreen. Whilst a lot of these problems are subjective, the iPhone still boasts tremendous functionality, and nearly all competitors to the iPhone shouldn't even be considered such. But dammit if the T-Mobile G1 didn't peak my interest when it was announced.
What is this? An actual competitor to the iPhone? A lot of media types, blogists, and what have you announced the Samsung Instinct, the LG Dare, and the such as potential iPhone killers, and they've been wrong every single time. To me, the only legitimate competitor the iPhone has right now is the T-Mobile G1. In the future, expect the Blackberry Storm and the Xperia X1 to be very firm competitors to the iPhone, but they are not out as of this blog post. So, why the G1? What makes it so damn good?
I've only had my G1 for about 9 hours, but I've only been able to use it for 5 since I had to carry over the contacts over from my iPhone to the G1. Which, by the way, the iPhone does not currently have a method of copying your contacts to your SIM card. To get around this involved a few steps: sync your iPhone's contacts with Outlook. Export your Outlook contacts to a CSV file, and then import those contacts to a Gmail account. Then when you pop in your SIM card and start your G1 for the first time, all your contacts will sync. Very cool. I bring this up, because the G1 is extremely user friendly from the very beginning. Gmail, contacts, calendar, etc. are all able to sync from the very first beginning usage of the phone.
Now, here's the biggest reason I bought this phone: A REAL QWERTY KEYBOARD. I'm bringing this up first and foremost, because it is that monumental. The G1 is not bulky, not ugly, yet is still able to boast a full QWERTY keyboard. And it is phenomenal. Also out of the box: MMS, and it is seamless and easy. Also out of the box? Copy and pasting! Apple, please take note of this. Now, granted, Google was able to sit back and see the various pitfalls of the iPhone, but at least they were proactive from the very beginning. Let's continue.
The desktop for the G1 is extremely visual. Think of it as a widescreen playground. You can flick left, or flick right, and the wallpaper will scale. It's not a set wallpaper that will repeat. Instead, it boasts a wallpaper that will stretch across your desktop a la multiple monitors. Very cool. The G1 also hosts a variety of keys at the bottom of the phone, whereas the iPhone only utilizes one (the home button). The G1 has a call button to immediately go to your call section, a home button to go to your desktop, a scroll ball (which I'll get to later), a back button, a menu button to access extra functionality for the application/area you're utilizing, and a hang up/turn off button. Now, for the scroll ball. My first reaction upon seeing it: I do not like it. My first reaction upon using it: I love it. Too many times I'll be browsing a website in which the links are so small that I have constantly found myself flicking in to get to them. With the G1, you can scroll to it quickly and easily, and then just tap the scroll ball to go to that link. This functionality also works throughout the entire phone, i.e. scrolling through applications, lists, etc.
WiFi is just as seamless and perfect as the iPhone. Texting as well. The cool thing about texts is that they're considered notifications when you get them. You'll get a brief preview at the top of your phone, then you can flick the notification area down like blinds to view your notifications. I really dig this. Google went with the unintrusive route with the notifications, whereas Apple went intrusive (i.e pops up like a modal window and doesn't allow interaction with the rest of the device until it is closed), and I have to favour Google's approach more. The Android Store is just as nice as The App Store, Installer, and Cydia. The built in speaker is much louder and crisper than the iPhone's. Calls are just as crisp. As you'd expect, integration with Google apps is perfection. Google Maps is much better than the iPhone integration as the G1 not only has street view, but it also has compass mode which allows the user to keep their eyes on the device whilst moving their device/their body, which then moves the street view on the screen of the G1. Oh, and the G1 has Voice Dialing from the very beginning. I'm sure other things will come up the more I use it, but right now I love this phone. But, just like the iPhone, it is NOT perfect.
Battery life. But this is to be expected with the 3G of the G1 versus the iPhone's EDGE network. I've also had WiFi on the entire time. Now, both manufacturers claim 5 hour battery life with 3G, and 10 hour battery life with EDGE, but I'm not sure that's the case with the G1. Let's hope Google comes out with an update for Android that will increase battery life. Built in memory is the next issue at hand. By default, the G1 comes with 256 of Flash based memory built in with a 1GB SD card. Now, memory is cheap, and apparently some people are already running 16GB of SD memory, yet that is an added cost on top of the already $179.99 price tag (for the black G1). While we're on the topic of memory, as of this blog, applications can only be installed on top of the built in memory of the device and not the SD card. A lot of people are expecting Google to allow applications to be installed on SD cards, but give the advantage to the iPhone in regards to having a lot of built in memory from the beginning. This is surprising as I certainly love the swappability of the G1, i.e. memory can be swapped as well as the battery, but when the memory can only be used for things other than applications and an ever growing library of applications through the Android Store, it would certainly benefit the G1 to have applications available for install on external memory.
Now, just as the keyboard is a pro, it is also a con. The construction of the G1 is top notch, and although the swivel based nature of the screen slideout seems firm, it is also an extra hassle to slide open the screen to create/respond to an email/SMS/IM/input. This is obviously not a huge inconvenience, but it is certainly a positive aspect of the iPhone's immediately accessible touch screen keyboard.
Now, I still have to have more time behind the G1, but right now I am loving it. I have since given my iPhone to my buddy since he is DJ'ing my sister's wedding in favour of the G1. Not only does the iPhone have competition, but, in my eyes, it is a tossup on which phone is superior at this point. Just as you should give the Zune a look see in regards to MP3 players, you should most certainly give the G1 a look see if buying a new phone that is in direct competition with the iPhone. Oh, by the way, I'm going to be uninstalling iTunes after this World Series game.
just one second, seeing if everything was inputted correctly.
