by Frank McPherson, author of How To Do Everything With Windows Mobile

 
Now that I am using the T-Mobile G1, I realize that this blog has the potential of changing from a Pocket PC/Windows Mobile specific blog to a blog all about the G1. I am not sure what to do about that, but my thinking is that if there are any readers left here, this audience would be more interested about my G1 experiences than those who read my general blog.

By far the most frustrating thing about the G1 for me has been the battery life. It cannot get through a day on one charge, even if I am not using the phone very extensively. There may be many reasons for this, but one thing different between Android and Windows Mobile is that Messaging in Windows Mobile only downloads a few kilobytes of email unless you configure it to do otherwise, whereas Gmail downloads everything except pictures. I also notice the synchronization symbol on the status bar a lot, so it may be that sync doesn't time out quickly enough if there are communication issues. Hopefully there are some optimizations that Google can make to Android to get it longer battery life, otherwise this device is not going to sell very well.

Not all of the device's capabilities and functions are obvious, nor documented. For example, how do you quickly mute the phone? I found you have to press and hold the End (red) button then tap Sound Off.

The Marketplace is a cool application, but it needs an easy way to show new applications that are available to download. I think a simple Added In The Last 7 Days menu option would be sufficient. They could send an email or text message (free of course) to indicate new apps, but the point is that I shouldn't have to wade through a list of items to find something new. Right now there aren't many applications, but we all hope that will change soon, right?

Speaking of cool applications, Android is in need of what I would consider some key applications:

• A twitter client. Yes SMS works and the web page works, but none are like Tinytwitter or Twirl


• A Facebook client. Facebook is cool on the iPhone, it should be cool on Android. I know that there have been articles suggesting that for some reason Facebook won't come until the Cubs win the Series. Whatever!


• A podcatcher. I really want an easy to use application that can subscribe to podcasts and can automatically connect to Wi-Fi networks and download the podcasts in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. I've tried to make BeyondPod do this on my Tytnn II and it won't work for me. Unfortunately, the iPod and Zune require a physical connection to a PC to download podcasts.


• A to-do application, though I do have a workaround for this using Gmail and Anycut that will write more about in another post.


• A notetaking application. Here I am hoping that Evernote will come out with an Android app has they have done for iPhone and Windows Mobile, though I really want it to be better so that it stores notes locally.

Speaking of third party applications, the two I am using the most at the moment are Locale and AnyCut. Locale is a profile application for Android that is capable of taking certain actions when it detects you are in a certain location. I've been using the cell tower form that is not as accurate as GPS, but it seems to be good enough. The one problem is that it doesn't seem to consisently detect that I am at home. A few things that I would improve with Locale is to provide users with an option to turn notifications on or off. It's nice to see that it knows I am in a locale the first time it happens, but repeatedly showing afterwards is annoying. It also a nice ability to send a message to Twitter when you are in a location, but that can only be the same message. Locale needs to be smart enough to realize that if I have been in the same location for a period of time it doesn't need to send the same message to Twitter. Here again they could provide some options, like allow user to specify to only send one message when you enter a location per day. Another thing I notice is that for some reason Locale changes the sound settings, I have noticed this because I am using it to set the phone to vibrate when I am at my work location. Finally, I would like Locale to be able to do more things, maybe it could be the podcatcher that I am looking for.

Finally, we come to the Google applications, which I think is most frustrating for users because they had high expectations for Google. In a nutshell, the Google apps are littered with little problems that show a lack of paying attention to detail. One big example: there isn't an easy way to delete large amounts of email. I really, really, like the web-based Gmail because in two clicks, click Unread to select all unread items, then click Delete, I can delete all the messages I am not interested in reading or saving. This approach is very fast and easy, and there is no reason it isn't on Android. Just put all the Select options at the top of the screen, and then give me a one click button to Delete on the top screen. I shouldn't have to press and hold or press menu to delete mail messages. For that matter, how about providing all of the keyboard shortcuts I can use on my desktop on the G1, after all you seem to expect me to be using the keyboard all the time!

The Calendar application has similar deficiencies, and it is obvious to me that not much thought is put into using Calendar as a serious way for tracking appointments for business. There is no way to view the day view in 30 minute increments, and there is no setting that allows the user to specify the default duration for a meeting. Most of my appointments are scheduled in 30 minute increments and there is no simple way for me to set them that way. While the web desktop version of Calendar allows me to request other people to participate in an appointment, there is no similar option in Android.

The main message to Google here is that users are expecting that they have ALL the application functionality on Android as they have on the full web. Making decisions for users on what they will or will not use is the Microsoft way for mobile computing, and would best not be repeated by Android. The appeal for me to Android is the power behind flexibility and tight integration with Google applications, to which much to my shock I have become more dependent.

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 9:11 AM 4 comments Links to this post

 
One of the cool things about Android is that it comes with the Amazon MP3 store for buying music. You can buy tracks on the G1, though you need to be connected to Wi-Fi in order to download the song to the phone.

As far as I can tell, the process for moving the music that you buy on the G1 to a desktop PC is manual. The good news is that you can connect the G1 to a Windows desktop and the microSD storage card that is included mounts like a USB storage device. You can then drag and drop the folder containing the music you buy (it's stored in an amazonmp3 folder on the card) to your PC.

Hopefully a developer will write a desktop application that will simply the process of moving music back and forth between a PC and the G1, because moving music to the G1 is the same manual copy process.

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 9:03 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
To prepare for when I would get my G1, I cleaned up my Google contacts by deleting all the entries and then importing my Outlook/Exchange contacts into Google contacts. The export/import process is not as straight forward as it should be. You export the Outlook contacts to a *.CSV file, which is very straight forward, but I had problems with the import into Google.

The problem is that addresses did not appear in Google contacts even though they were right where they should be in the CSV file. After a search I found out the problem seems to be with the version of Gmail I was using, which is the newest version. I switched back to the older version and re-imported (after deleting all the contacts first) and then the addresses appeared as they should. I was then able to switch back to the newer version of Gmail and the addresses still appear.

Today was the true test for how the contacts sync would work and it has one problem. Several of my contacts are businesses for which I don't enter a first and last name but rather a company name. The company name appears as you expect in the web version of Google/Gmail contacts, but the company names do not appear in Adroid's contacts list, instead I just see the phone numbers for those companies at the top of the list. I think to fix this I will have to edit every one of the company contacts that I have to put the company name in the last name field.

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 8:26 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
So I signed up to buy a T-Mobile G1 on the first day it was available, and it arrived today, giving me the benefit of playing with it about 10 hours before folks can buy one at a store. Obviously, I have had very little time to explore so these are my very first experiences with the device.

I did not understand the instructions for removing the back cover, and I think that what you have to do is exactly opposite to what you need to do, which is to lift the release tab and then push the back to the right vs. "peel the back cover off."

The screen is freakin great. I know that people with iPhones and HTC Touch Diamonds will not see the big deal, but I am coming from a HTC Tytnn II and a T-Mobile Shadow, and the text looks like a picture and is crisp and clear. Very nice.

I had some trouble with the initial set up as there was communication problems with Google. Actually, I think the problem may have been network connectivity. I first tried setting the G1 up in The Cave, which is in the basement, and had no signal. It would have been really cool if Android recognized that and offered to connect to a Wi-Fi network. Instead, I went upstairs and tried signing in about five more times before it finally seemed to work.

No surprise, 3G is not on in West Bloomfield nor anywhere else in Detroit AFAIK. Now the wait is for when T-Mo turns on 3G, I will be anxiously checking the status bar at the top of the G1 to see if is enabled, but I believe that won't happen until November.

So far after a very brief period of typing some text messages and a couple of emails, I am not liking the keyboard. The keys are a bit hard to find, but I am finding the real problem is that unlike my Tytnn the keyboard isn't the full length of the device and the bottom "button bar," where the send, home, back, and end buttons reside, gets in the way on my right hand. Clearly I need to hold the G1 differently. It amazes me that given HTC has much better slide out keyboards on their Windows Mobile devices that they would chose such a bad keyboard for the G1, and I am guessing Google made that call to make it similar to the Sidekick.

The G1 doesn't appear to have any better cellular radio strength than my Shadow, as it barely gets one bar of signal in The Cave. I had hopes that I might get a bit better signal. I know that my signal strength in The Cave has more to do with T-Mobile's frequency than anything. My Tytnn II is on AT&T and it gets four bars of signal in the basement thanks to being on the 850 Mhz band. I am sure that if I put my AT&T SIM in the G1, and the G1 was unlocked, I would get more bars in the basement.

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 7:49 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
Of the T-Mobile G1/Android launch event coverage that I have read, it think that Matt Miller's is the most comprehensive, particularly with the pictures.

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 10:07 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
Glad to see that T-Mobile has listened and is pulling back on the 1 GB cap on data usage for their 3G service. One of the reasons why I have been a loyal T-Mobile customer is the fact that T-Mobile seems to be much more reasonable with dealing with customers. They provide good customer service and don't appear be out to screw folks over.

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 8:55 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
Ok, to get the obvious question out of the way, yes, I did place my order for a T-Mobile G1, aka the Gphone. However, there is good news and bad news amongst the river of news that has flowed through Google Reader today.

First, the good news is that I will be able to get T-Mobile's G3 service for the same monthly price as I pay today. T-Mobile has two price plans for the G1 data service, one is $35/mo for unlimited Internet and text messaging, the other is $25 per month for unlimited Internet and 400 text messages. Today I pay $4.99 per month for 400 text messages and $19 per month for unlimited Internet. Now, with the G1 data plan I believe I do lose access to the T-Mobile Hotspots, which is curious since the G1 has Wi-Fi. Hotspots is currently bundled in my $19 per month Internet access and I don't see why that couldn't continue. Isn't AT&T providing Hotspot access to iPhone customers?

Bad news with the data service is that Gizmodo has found fine print indicating that T-Mobile states that if I use more than 1 GB of data per month they may restrict my data rate to 50 kbps, which is less than what I get today on Edge. That is not acceptable!

Also found out that the G1 will not support tethering so I won't be able to use it with a laptop computer. I think the fine print that Gizmodo found is T-Mobile's back up plan knowing that since Android is largely open source some developer is going to figure out how to tether. If you tether you are really likely to use more than 1 GB per month. I think at some point T-Mobile will have to get real and support tethering, probably with a higher monthly data plan.

Despite these negatives I want to be an early adopter, primarily because I am becoming frustrated with the lack of much new with Windows Mobile. News that came out today that Windows Mobile 7 is even further delayed didn't help.

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 9:41 PM 0 comments Links to this post

 
The coming week might be huge for those of us that are into mobile gadgets as September 23 brings the public unveiling of the Google Android based smartphone produced by HTC and sold by T-Mobile for their network. To me Android is about connecting mobile devices to the Google Internet cloud, so I expect to see Google Gears deeply embedded in the OS to make the Google apps (Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Notebook, etc..) really useful on a mobile phone. Because you cannot rely on constant mobile connectivity, Gears will be a critical component for providing a useful experience while connected and disconnected. I think Google has to make the experience seamless, which is unlike the current experience with Gears which requires users to manually determine the connectivity state.

I have come to realize that my personal computing has really moved to the cloud. I use Gmail as my email client, and forward my POP mail to it. I still use hosted Exchange with my Windows Mobile Smartphone, and forward specific email from Gmail to the phone so that key email is pushed to me when I am away from my personal desk. However, I expect that Android will support push email from Gmail, which might make the host Exchange service that I currently use less necessary.

While I expect much of the buzz this coming week will be on Android, I am equally anxious to learn of of T-Mobile's 3G rollout for the Detroit area. Reports are that it comes by the end of the year, and most prognosticators believe that the 3G rollout is specifically tied to Android. That is, Android will be the first device that T-Mobile will ride to promote it's new 3G network. Likewise, I am anxious to know when T-Mobile will first start selling a Windows Mobile device that works on their 3G network, my personal bet is that it will be the Shadow II. T-Mobile's 3G network uses a different frequency than AT&T's meaning that no currently available Windows Mobile device, and for that matter few phones at all, currently work with their 3G network.

Two key things I am anxious to learn from T-Mobile is, what is the cost for 3G and will Android support tethering? I very much hope they retain the same pricing as they have for their Edge service, providing an "all you can eat" plan at a reasonable price. I also want to see whether the HTC Dream / Android /GPhone will support tethering to notebook computers. Historically, T-Mobile has done nothing to prevent users from tethering their phones, which is much more user friendly than their competitors who either break the phone's capabilities to support tethering, or require a higher cost plan to use tethering. Low data rates and consumer friendliness are key differentiators for T-Mobile and have kept myself and many current customers from jumping ship to other carriers even while T-Mobile has been so far behind in data speeds. I hope T-Mobile rewards us current users for this loyalty.

Finally, I am interested in seeing how accepted Android will be and whether it will influence Microsoft with Windows Mobile. So far Microsoft has been too slow in reacting to iPhone, and has slipped behind iPhone and RIM in the mobile marketplace. I have to wonder how committed Microsoft is to the mobile marketplace. At the same time, I am hopeful that the length of time in releasing WM 7 is due to Microsoft spending extra time to completely overhaul Windows Mobile.

The truth is that Windows Mobile is long in the tooth and currently does not standout in the mobile operating system crowd. I am not holding my breath for this overhaul, but very willing to be surprised. After the dust settles on the Android announcement the mobile world will begin to focus on Microsoft to see what they will come out with next. Will Microsoft jump the shark with Windows Mobile 7, or restablish themselves in the mobile market?

Labels: 2008, android

posted by Frank at 12:10 PM 0 comments Links to this post