Our fantastic friend google android is out and so far is not impressing me one bit. Don’t get me wrong the software is great but from my perspective doing research on both the hardware and the network that google choose to release this phone I am really disappointed. The G1 is one of T-Mobiles first 3G phones and the reason behind it is because that T-Mobile has an extremely small 3G data network. (Currently only in 13 Markets and by the end of 2008 only in 27 Markets). To put that into perspective AT&T’s 3G covers 350 US Markets.
You might think what does this mean in terms of the G1 and the services that google is offering. Rumors have it that google and T-Mobile are going to allow you to get googles services without the need for a data plan. If you have looked into what is google is offering this is ALOT I mean ALOT. Google is going to sync everything on the phone over the web. So if you add a contact, start a convo in gTalk, delete or send an email it will all be synced back to your google/gmail account over the air. However my question to google is how long is this going to take on T-Mobile’s EDGE network? With only 27 Markets on their 3G network and the average person not being in those Markets most people are going to suffer with EDGE speeds. So let’s say you have 100MB’s of email 10MB’s of contacts, cal events and tasks, and another 10MB’s of gTalk convos. If you loose your phone and need to replace it it would take around 45 minutes to re-sync all that back to your phone. Needless to say T-Mobile needs to get a faster data network soon or google needs to find a faster carrier.
The issues with this phone don’t end with T-Mobile. HTC is the maker of the G1 and so far I have seems some setbacks for this phone. First and foremost is going to be the 256MB of ROM on the phone. For all you music guru’s out looking for a cheap alternative for the iPhone this is not what you a looking for. 256MB = little to no music. Before you say I am crazy yes the phone does have an optional MicroSD slot that can support up to 8GB’s but who wants to manage where they store their programs and data? I sure don’t and would like to see google take an approach more along the lines of the iPhone with the built in flash memory.
Lastly I would like to let all you know that I am very disappointed in the overall marketing and overall execution of the G1. In my opinion the software has a great potential being an open source platform that many developers are going to jump all over. I currently have no issues with the software and will keep you updated on my progress as I am currently looking into learning more about the SDK and developer tools that google offers. In the end I will keep an eye on the G1 but have no intentions of running out to get one.
SO AT&T has some really cool phones that are going to make AT&T an even better choice for all the consumers out in the world looking to get a new cell.
One of the more notable devices coming to AT&T’s line up is the HTC Fuze. This is the “replacement” phone for the AT&T Tilt and not only that has features that kick any other smart phone in the rear end.
Bellow are the launch dates for future AT&T devices:
Notice: The date’s above have not been confirmed but we highly suspect that the are close to the actual launch date’s.
This is most defiantly the question I get asked the most, and I am sorry for the delay in the response. This topic will contain all the links to software and the official HTC ROMS for your windows mobile device. First and foremost I want to make it clear that any damages to your device are your responsibility and I do not take any responsibility in data loss or bricked phones. This tutorial was written with that in mind so if you follow the directions word-for-word you should be fine.
First off you will need to download ActiveSync 4.5 if you do not already have it installed on your windows XP or Vista computer. FYI – In vista it is called the mobile device manager and is pre-installed in most vista distributions. You can download ActiveSync 4.5 here >>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/downloads/eulas/eula_activesync45_1033.mspx?ProductID=76
Second head on over to the xda-developers wiki. Honestly the easiest way to get to the wiki is to google it. So go to http://google.com and search for xda-developers wiki. Once at the wiki page find your phone. FYI – The HTC name of your phone is different then the AT&T, Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint name of the phone. Make sure that you find the HTC name of your phone and select that on the wiki page. For example the HTC name for the AT&T 8525 is the HTC Hermes. The link for the HTC Hermes wiki on xda-developers can be found here >>>http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Hermes. Once on the page that matches your model phone. Scroll down till you see Official Factory Shipped ROM’s, click on the link and you will be directed to a page that will show you all the Factory Shipped ROM’s for your phone. You have many options here because you can choose to install the HTC ROM that will basically only install the O/S and HTC preloaded software or you can choose the ROM for your carrier. The carriers ROM usually includes bloatware that will slow down the phone a.k.a – at&t’s music software. I choose to install the HTC ROM in this tutorial. Once you go to the download page you can then download the ROM from rapidshare.
After you have everything download you will need to install active sync 4.5 and reboot the computer. After the computer has booted back up plug in your phone with the USB cable that it came with and once active sync sees the phone double click on the new ROM for your phone. A box will appear that will tell you a few things that need to be done before you can continue, please read it carefully before click next. After you click next you will be asked if the phone and computer have more that 50% battery life along with a few other questions. Once you click next the ROM flashing program will open and begin flashing your phone. FYI – The phone will reboot and you will see a multi colored screen. DO NOT UNPLUG, POWER OFF, OR REMOVE THE BATTERY. You will see a status indicator on your phone and computer, once again wait till it is finished the phone will reboot again into your new O/S and you are done. Just reconfigure your phone and re-install your favorite programs.
If you have any questions please email me at support@bluephoenix.tv.
Last but not least I have put a tutorial video in the post and I strongly recommend anyone who is serious about upgrading their phone to please watch it.
To all you windows mobile fans I have found your best friend. This application not only is the worlds most advanced mobile browser but also gives you everything and I mean everything that your computers browser can bring to you.
So you may ask how this work? Well to put it as simple as possible your phone does not do anything. Really, it does not process the data that your computer normally would. What makes this browser special is the fact that it uses server side processing to provide a rich end user experience. This means that the Skyfire servers process all the data before it gets to your phone. You phone just receives raw data from skyfire and displays and plays any audio that the skyfire servers transmit.
What does this mean? This is awesome because it will allow manufactures of websites to continue to make graphic intensive website while not leaving a mobile user in the dust. This revolutionary way to process web pages on mobile phones is the future and do not be surprised if you see this technology soon in your iphone and newer HTC devices.
If you are interested in joining the private beta please go to http://skyfire.com and click Sign Up!
Sorry for the audio issues 