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T-Mobile and Google Introduce First Android Phone
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Why label this an "ugly" phone???
Take a closer look ...
http://www.htc.com/www/product_gallery.aspx?FolderID=5786
Take a closer look ...
http://www.htc.com/www/product_gallery.aspx?FolderID=5786
Industry news about a new product from a major juggernaut that is a direct competitor to an industry-leading, headline-grabbing Apple product... I'd say this is worthy of MacRumors' coverage.
(Perhaps technically it's a slight widening of this site's scope, in the service of maintaining a wider relevance in the tech news blogosphere, but it's still worthy of coverage here.)
Yeah, I have to agree about all the people parroting the "competition is good" line over and over. It is like when people appended all their posts with "in my opinion." Of course it is your opinion and no one ever has said competition is bad. (and by the way, I agree that Apple is a leader, not a follower so competition isn't really relevant...just look at the ipod it has lead with no meaningful competition for how long?)
Over all, I think the G1 is lack luster. It is a good replacement for a WinMo phone but doesn't really aim to do the same thing the iphone does. Here is a good example, how many clocks does windows and the G1 have? (I also got a kick out of gmail and regular imap mail being segregated between two mail apps by default, you have to close one app and open another if you want to switch between your gmail and other imap mail accounts...who thought this was a good idea?)
Over all, I think the G1 is lack luster. It is a good replacement for a WinMo phone but doesn't really aim to do the same thing the iphone does. Here is a good example, how many clocks does windows and the G1 have? (I also got a kick out of gmail and regular imap mail being segregated between two mail apps by default, you have to close one app and open another if you want to switch between your gmail and other imap mail accounts...who thought this was a good idea?)
With those links, you've proven my point -- an 8GB micro-SD costs a lot more than $20 -- even the 4GB version costs more. Thus the Android phone is more expensive than the iPhone.
As for the carrier being unhappy about tethering, granted, but those iPhone users lucky enough to have bought the NetShare tethering app aren't suffering any repercussions form AT&T. Bottom line, Andriod is not an open platform.
God it's annoying to see this on here. Let's keep it MAC eh?
This cell phone obsession is truly amazing!
Totally agree about the open platform (more accurately perhaps, marketplace promise). I mused in an earlier post about the nonsense of an unmoderated marketplace - I reckon it's complete bollocks or utter madness: that wording is going to swept under the rug pretty quickly.
Actually the one thing I didn't realise, and amazes me utterly, is the "gPhone" is aimed at consumers, not business users. WTF. At the very least, it would be incredible competition against Blackberry (which iPhone isn't) - particularly since Blackberry users are quite well adapted to talking into what looks like a scientific calculator.
Android has a few things I want to see in the iPhone:
1. The top bar which can scroll down at any time in any app to reveal current info such as new sms, email, event etc. This would be useful in the iphone, currently you have to exit out of an app to read sms' etc. which is not ideal.
2. The main screen showing whatever widget you want, with a quick swipe from the bottom to reveal your apps. This is quite clean and the iPhone would benefit from it, so you can see main info such as event and sms notification on the main screen.
3. Copy/paste. Enough said.
4. Street view with Compass mode, this would be an awesome addition to the iPhone maps app.
1. The top bar which can scroll down at any time in any app to reveal current info such as new sms, email, event etc. This would be useful in the iphone, currently you have to exit out of an app to read sms' etc. which is not ideal.
2. The main screen showing whatever widget you want, with a quick swipe from the bottom to reveal your apps. This is quite clean and the iPhone would benefit from it, so you can see main info such as event and sms notification on the main screen.
3. Copy/paste. Enough said.
4. Street view with Compass mode, this would be an awesome addition to the iPhone maps app.
Don't bother with reason. The "open platform" position is purely political. It doesn't mean a thing in real world terms yet it means everything to a niche of people. If they deem one thing opened and the other thing closed that is it for them, end of story. Ignore the man behind the curtain.
Hmmm. Apple sues T-Mobile and then Nintendo (think Wii) sues Apple and the iPhone is pulled from the market. Don't you just love the patent system which lets you pull one out of you back side and then no one else is allowed to use it no matter how basic the idea is? Better patent that Warp Drive now in case someone invents one some day.
Personally, I think the consumer should have the choice of where and how they buy their music. What ever happened to 'Consumer is King' ? But then unlike some on here, I think the consumer should be allowed to choose their own hardware for the Mac operating system as well instead of being forced to buy it from Apple (hacking excepted). Simply having the choice to not buy something altogether isn't really all that helpful when you want to get something done.
I would like to see Apple go fully DRM free on the iTunes store. They've lost a LOT of sales from me because I will not buy music at 128kbit or with DRM. But as I recently discovered when I bought an iTunes Plus 256kbit supposedly DRM free track, my new JVC car stereo won't play it properly. It sounds like its slowing down like a tape motor is going bad when it tries to play that file (Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over") yet it plays fine on Apple's hardware (iTunes 8, AppleTV and iPod Touch). All 256kbit AAC files I've made myself from my CD collection play just fine on the JVC so it begs the question what is wrong with Apple's DRM free files that they don't like to play it non-Apple hardware? That only pushes me to Amazon's store even more since those MP3s play just fine on non-Apple hardware. The JVC won't play Apple Lossless either because Apple won't formerly publish the specs on it.
Apple just doesn't want to play nice on the playground. Too bad about the apps they won't publish on the iTunes store too, especially when an author has put months into one only to be rejected because Apple feels it treads on their own software's turf. The author of "Signal" (remote control software for the iPod Touch that works through the Mac or Windows and a web page that existed long before Apple's own 'remote' app) claims he's working on a native iPhone/Touch app but given Apple already has a remote app of their own, I can't help but think it'll get rejected by them and the consumer will be the loser since Signal can already do things that Remote cannot do (e.g. make up playlists on the fly from the Touch as you go). In all these things, I think it should be up to the consumer to decide what to buy/install/use. After all, it's your life. You should be able to decide how to live it. Apple shouldn't be living it for you. But then that's my outlook on life...people first. Look where greed got Wall Street. It's not hard to figure out whom I'm voting for in November.
Yay for competition. Yay for background applications. Yay for improved Google Maps integration. Yay for the DRM-free Amazon Music Store. Yay for expandable SD memory.
Boo for no syncing. Boo for no integrated memory. Boo for no multi-touch. Boo for the still-clunky browser interface.
This is a very cool device by any objective standard, and brings Google's typical minimalist functionality to bear. It's even got a few things to hold over Apple's head. However, it's locked to T-mobile, and as such, it's not going to pose a huge threat in the US space. It should, though, act as a spur to Apple's sluggish roadmap for the iPhone.
Did I mention that competition is good?
Boo for no syncing. Boo for no integrated memory. Boo for no multi-touch. Boo for the still-clunky browser interface.
This is a very cool device by any objective standard, and brings Google's typical minimalist functionality to bear. It's even got a few things to hold over Apple's head. However, it's locked to T-mobile, and as such, it's not going to pose a huge threat in the US space. It should, though, act as a spur to Apple's sluggish roadmap for the iPhone.
Did I mention that competition is good?
what sells iphone
What sells the iphone is that fact that it is your ipod and your phone in one device, matched with a super slick GUI and REAL INTERNETS WEB SPACE CYBER NETS BROWSING.
What sells the iphone is that fact that it is your ipod and your phone in one device, matched with a super slick GUI and REAL INTERNETS WEB SPACE CYBER NETS BROWSING.
Competition is irrelevant to Apple's mission
Regarding the "competition is good" mantra, I think this bears repeating:
Competitive pressures are not the engine of Apple's quality.
"Competition is good because it pushes Apple" -- this Economics 101 idea is always being touted throughout the MacRumors forums. I think it's worth saying that competition is not what drives Apple/Steve Jobs. They want to make the best products. Not "slightly better than the other guy" products, the best ones. They are not driven by what's out there, or with keeping up with the Joneses. They do not "get nervous" when a competitor adds some feature or reduces the price of something. They do not "worry" that their products have to be up to par with everyone else's. They do not improve a product to compete, they improve it to make it better. Sure, Apple has to play in the same market like everyone else and I'm not suggesting they can totally defy the laws of competitive economics... but I am suggesting that it's not what drives them, and it's not what inspires them, and I don't believe it's what constitutes their decision-making.
Competition is relevant for all those companies' missions of delivering "better." But competition is irrelevant to Apple's mission of delivering the BEST. If they were the only computer company on earth with a 100% monopoly, I believe they/Steve would still be constantly improving their products in trying to deliver the best. That is what drives them.
Regarding the "competition is good" mantra, I think this bears repeating:
Competitive pressures are not the engine of Apple's quality.
"Competition is good because it pushes Apple" -- this Economics 101 idea is always being touted throughout the MacRumors forums. I think it's worth saying that competition is not what drives Apple/Steve Jobs. They want to make the best products. Not "slightly better than the other guy" products, the best ones. They are not driven by what's out there, or with keeping up with the Joneses. They do not "get nervous" when a competitor adds some feature or reduces the price of something. They do not "worry" that their products have to be up to par with everyone else's. They do not improve a product to compete, they improve it to make it better. Sure, Apple has to play in the same market like everyone else and I'm not suggesting they can totally defy the laws of competitive economics... but I am suggesting that it's not what drives them, and it's not what inspires them, and I don't believe it's what constitutes their decision-making.
Competition is relevant for all those companies' missions of delivering "better." But competition is irrelevant to Apple's mission of delivering the BEST. If they were the only computer company on earth with a 100% monopoly, I believe they/Steve would still be constantly improving their products in trying to deliver the best. That is what drives them.
That's what got me to buy an iPhone, but I quickly realized that I hated the iPhone's implementation of the iPod functions (I didn't know how much I would miss that click wheel). I just bought a 5G yesterday for my iPod needs.
Eh?
Why would Apple sue T-Mobile?
Why would Nintendo sue Apple?
Really, please, tell me...
you know what heres a supprise ITS A BLOODY PHONE Sheesh!! who gives a crap whether or not its compertion for the iPhone apple dose things its way others do things there way. If you dont like it dont buy it if you do like it buy it simple as that ..... Were are the new macbooks !!!
P.S remind me i need to change my signature
P.S remind me i need to change my signature
That's b/c the gPhone does syncing over the air, there's no reason to be tethered to a PC. If you really want syncing to a desktop, I'm sure there will be an app that does this.
That's the way it is right now, but Verizon has also signed onto the Google Android platform. We'll see a gPhone on Verizon Wireless's network eventually. I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see one on AT&T as well.
That's the only way Google and TMobile will be able to say they had X number of downloads from their app store.