T-Mobile’s G1 gets announced for $179, available October 22nd – The Google Phone is here! (Liveblog)
By Simon Sage on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 10:10 AM PST In Android
After spy shots, teaser videos, and months of anticipation, Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile platform is ready to see the light of day in the T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) G1. We’re following the live webcast from New York in case you don’t have the time to, and will be updating regularly with the latest info on the HTC Dream G1 that was once thought to be the mythical Google Phone (gPhone). Click through on this post and keep on refreshing if you know what’s good for ya.
10:26 AM EST: Jungle beat muzak segues surprisingly well into hoe-down muzak.
10:29: Buffer harder, Chrome! You call yourself a browser?
10:30: Showtime. Cole Brodman, T-Mob CTO. Intros buddies, talks about connecting a gradually dispersing world.
10:32: Austrian dude, Christopher Schlaffer of T-Mobile, comes up, talks about the long-term planning needed, working with Google and HTC.
10:35: Andy Rubin steps up, Google Senior Executive Director. Talking mostly about how open Android is and the ability for developers to upgrade the platform itself.
10:37: Peter Chow of HTC steps up. Android is a part of a “fundamental shift” in the how where and why of mobile lifestyle.
10:39: Damn you, Chrome. Buffer!
10:41: Cole’s back up, talking about needing big pipes for mobile internet. “No more fuzzy pictures on the internet… no more unsubstantiated blog posts…” Bah! I like those!
10:43: Live Android in action… so much… awesomeness.. can’t handle…
10:44: Photo opp… down in front! My Prt Scrn trigger finger is itchy!
10:45: Demo time for the G1. Long-press for menus… framing pictures… drag and drop any application. Amazon’s on-board for music store… cue music player. Cool, drag down the top bar as a window shade to see IM.
10:48: Google Maps and street view. Very cool. Compass mode – Street View changes as you move. Niiice.
10:49: Web browser… holding down will show you a zoom frame.
10:50: Android Market built-in… not much on details. Back to Cole, talking about third parties and their role in driving the future of the mobile internet.
10:52: Little video on the developer community… programmers talking about how big open source is. Been screencapping… pics will go up shortly.
10:55: Cole intros Ecorio team, who are working on software which tracks your carbon footprint, ShopSavvy team working on a barcode scanning app.
10:56: Q&A period. $179, existing customers can order online, October 22nd. launch date! Two fresh plans $25, $35. By launch, 22 markets will be covered in 3G. European details… UK in early November, elsewhere in Q1 ‘09.
11:00 Mics are set up. Tethering a no go? Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Office? PDF, Excel and Word are all readable, but nothing for Exchange yet. SIM-locked. So, it’s not THAT open. Push GMail and Imap supported. No desktop app… huh. Other markets… it will be available outside of 3G coverage, although Wi-Fi helps.
11:03: Comparing to iPhone locking/unlocking practices… Marketing plan will involve both T-Mo and Google. Biggest T-Mob campaign to date. A2DP Bluetooth isn’t ready yet. Uses a Webkit browser, kind of a Chrome Lite.
11:06: Good question about target market… sounds way too broad. Future plans for Gmail using the G1, above and beyond the iPhone? GTalk built into address book. iTunes should work on DRM-free, no Skype client yet… World phone, should work internationally.
11:10: Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped in from the Google Transit launch. Talks about the fun he’s had tinkering with the G1.
11:14: More photo opps. *Sigh*. And everyone’s going downstairs to play with the new G1. That’s it! Good show!
The HTC Dream G1 has officially landed on T-Mobile as the T-Mobile G1, bringing to life the almost legendary Google Phone (gPhone) after more than a year of speculation. Feels good, don’t it?
