After the main announcement this morning, we spent some hands-on time with T-Mobile’s new G1 – the first production Android device. The HTC-made device has quadband GSM together with HSDPA 1700/2100, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel fixed-focus camera and a 3.2-inch 320 x 480 flush-fit touchscreen.
Slide the display to the right, and a full QWERTY keyboard with dedicated search button is revealed. The search function is device-wide and context specific: hit the button while browsing your contacts, for instance, and it will search through individual records. Press it when in the Webkit-based browser (which uses the same underlying technology as Google’s Chrome browser for desktop) and it triggers a standard Google internet search. Our first impressions of the browser were that it didn’t seem quite as slick as Safari on the iPhone 3G, but the hardware keyboard – while not the best we’ve used on a mobile device – made entering site addresses and filling in online forms far easier.
Size-wise, compared to what will likely be its most quoted competitor, the T-Mobile G1 is thicker and longer than the iPhone 3G. It’s narrower, though, and of course much of the bulk is from the sliding section. A removable battery adds its own girth, too; the G1 talktime is estimated at up to 350 minutes WCDMA or 406 minutes GSM; standby at 402hrs or 319hrs for WCDMA or GSM respectively.
Storage is down from the iPhone 3G too – a 1GB microSD card is in the box, with a maximum of 8GB supported – but the G1 can send MMS messages and has Street View and a digital compass for use with Google Maps. You’ll have to either use HTC’s headphones or an adapter, though; the G1 lacks a normal 3.5mm socket in favor of the company’s “HTC ExtUSB” which combines mini-USB with audio.
As expected the G1 uses a multi-core Qualcomm chipset, the MSM7201A running at 528MHz and paired with 256MB ROM and 192MB RAM. One notable omission is A2DP stereo Bluetooth – that will apparently come in a later Android release.
We’ll have hands-on video very soon, so stick with Android Community!
As for charging while listenning you should be able to get an adapter like for the Wing.
As for charging while listening you should be able to get an adapter like for the Wing.