Saturday, December 6, 2008

Some G1 Accessories You Might Need

Bluetooth headsets seem to work fine on the whole, but the device doesn't yet support stereo over bluetooth, so any audio playback will be mono sound only. This will be fixed with the next update, so there is no need to wait to buy your bluetooth headset.

The wired headset that comes with the G1 phone gives good sound quality, but the limitation of the phone is that it doesn't have a regular headphone/earphone socket, so for wired Google phone accessories you have to buy those that are specifically designed to be compatible with the Google phone.

However, in the US the G1 now ships with an adaptor which allows you to plug in a regular 3.5mm headset.

File Transfer - You Might Need a USB Data Cable

As yet Android doesn't support file transfer between the phone and your computer by Bluetooth. This should be added with the next update. Because this feature is actually missing from the underlying structure of the operating system, it's almost impossible for somebody else to add it (through a downloaded application for example) until the update.

File transfer over the USB cable works fine, although the method has changed from the Quick Start guide that comes with the phone, which has confused some people (me included). When you plug the USB cable in, a prompt will come up on the G1's notifications area (the pulldown at the top of the screen), saying "USB Connected - select to copy files to/from your computer". Tap the message, and when the next box pops up on screen select "Mount". After that, your computer will see the G1's SD card as an external drive, just like a Flash drive.

Everything the phone has stored on your SD card is organized pretty clearly, and your digital photos are under the folder called "dcim". You can copy your music, photos etc. into any folder and the G1's software should find them.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

G1 - An Exciting New Product in 2008

The new T-Mobile G1 Phone is an exciting new product that has consumers, cell-phone enthusiasts, and tech geeks everywhere buzzing. The new phone, also known as the HTC Dream Phone or Google Phone, uses Google's open source platform known as Android. Android allows for independent programmers to create their own applications which makes the uses and user experience for the G1 phone literally limitless.

Users of Google's services such as Google chat (gchat) and Google mail (gmail) will be pleased to know that the T-Mobile G1 phone comes equipped with the Google applications gchat, gmail, Google maps with streetview, Google calendar, and many of the other Google applications that their users have come to know, use frequently, and depend on. Of course, you can still buy ringtones for your G1, no problem.

Other features that users have commented on of the new phone include a full QWERTY keyboard, a loud, clear sounding speaker phone, and a built in camera that has better clarity and resolution than the iPhone. These exciting new features allows for consumers to take pictures and upload them instantly to their online photo albums, MySpace page, or Facebook.

The Google Maps Streetview application on the T-Mobile G1 is very helpful when you are out and about and want to make plans on the fly. The built in GPS allows Google maps to pinpoint your destination as well inform you of what types of establishments are around you. This includes restaurants, shopping malls, movie theaters, and friends. Imagine being able to go to a city or town where you have never been before and know where everything is located around you in just a matter of moments. With the G1 phone from T-Mobile this is all possible according to the consumers. With all the strides that have occurred in the past few years in handheld devices, this phone is certainly the latest.