The upcoming T-Mobile G2, the worthy successor to the world’s first Android phone will sport some a couple of things we’ve yet to see on an Android phone. While users won’t be able to physically see the new Qualcomm CPU under the hood, they will be able to see, and get acquainted with, the G2’s Quick Keys.
The Quick Keys on the G2 seem like none other than T-Mobile’s doing, as the carrier has been known to customize their handsets slightly to help differentiate them from the growing army of Android smartphones already and soon-to-be on market. The MyTouch Slide is the biggest example of T-Mobile’s customized buttons and user interface – sporting a customized HTC Sense UI, and the Genius button. T-Mobile looks to be going the “button route” again with the user-programmable G2 quick keys, which will allow a user to access shortcuts that they have assigned to each of the three keys. We’re not sure if the keys will shortcut you solely to Google shortcuts, or if the keys will allow you to shortcut to anywhere in the settings menu and/or fire up any Android app that you use frequently, but we’d imagine it’s the latter.
I think the Quick Keys are a good idea, but I can see some users having trouble remembering what shortcuts are assigned to which button. Furthermore, if T-Mobile can add three extra keys to the keyboard that not everyone will use, why not add a dedicated number row, something that everyone will use? Still, I’ll definitely give these quick keys a try, and hopefully I’ll use them regularly. If not, I’ll be wishing they just gave the “www.” and “.com” key their own dedicated buttons.
In the end, though, we’re just glad to see T-Mobile trying to make the Android experience easier for users to get to the content that matters to them most, and the Quick Keys seem to do exactly that.
If T-Mobile gets a good response from the Quick Keys implemented on to the G2, then I’d expect them to be added to more of the carrier’s lineup.
[Via: TMONews]