Sure, the Android is cool because it is open source and the OS is from Google.  Or something like that.  But the device isn’t perfect and users have been hoping for something better to come along.

Looks like you might not have to wait for new hardware – just a quick software hack – to meet your needs.  There are reports circulating of a hack to the OS and the browser software that now enables multi-touch on the screen.  Such capability has long been reported to be present in the hardware but software limited thanks to patent claims by Apple.  Looks like the hackes don’t seem to care too much about that.

This doesn’t make it perfect, but it is a nice improvement to the platform.

Happy hacking.

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Following on the news a couple weeks back that Sprint wasn’t too keen on the Android platform, it seems like Nokia is joining the fracas.  They are very happy to use Linux, which is the base of the Android platform, but aren’t particularly keen on Android itself.

“In the longer perspective, Linux will become a serious alternative for our high-end phones,” Ukko Lappalainen, vice president at Nokia’s markets unit, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the “Nokia World” industry conference….

“I don’t see anything in Android which would make it better than Linux maemo,” Lappalainen said.

Yeah…Google probably isn’t going to be too happy about this hit on their platform.

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And if you’ve already purchased your Android/G1 phone you probably won’t be happy with it.  Starting tomorrow, October 29, the G1 phone will be available at WalMart stores for $30 less than T-Mobile is charging at their own stores.

Seriously, this reeks of the Apple iPhone fiasco where they cut the price significantly shortly after release and backpedaled into giving lots of customers credits at the iTunes store to make up for the perceived slight.  perhaps the real question here is what, if anything, T-Mobile is going to do about it for the earliest adopters.  I’m betting nothing, but who knows.

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Now that there is finally a phone on the market running Google’s Android OS – the T-Mobile G1 – the question seems to be when other carriers will make a similar move.  And the answer from Sprint is not any time soon.

Apparently the folks over at Sprint have declared the Android OS isn’t “good enough to put the Sprint brand on.”  They might be right.  The OS probably isn’t perfect in its first release.  But for the CEO of the company to come out and state that the OS is simply not ready yet is a pretty aggressive move.

Sprint is planning on supporting the Android OS “at some time in the future” so no need to give up all hope, but I would guess the horizon is pretty far out at this point.

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I was lucky enough to get my pre-ordered T-Mobile G1 in the mail yesterday. It’s now been 24 hours since I put my Blackberry Curve down, and used the G1 for my daily routine.

I’m happy to say that it has been a near perfect experience. The start was a little rocky as T-Mobile apparently forgot to correctly provision my account, but after a 2 minute call I was good to go.

Here is my experience with the G1 up till now:

The great:

The Interface, the hardware, the Gmail push client, the browser

The good:

The Android marketplace, Google maps, the music app

The bad:

GPS coverage, rubber flap covering the USB port, no standard headphone jack, battery life

I’ll only go into the last item; battery life is a big problem. I started the day at 6:45am with a 100% battery, and by 2pm I was down to 20%. That could be a big problem, especially if you are used to 3-4 days from your Blackberry.

I’ll go into the device in some more depth in the coming days, but so far it is safe to say that the device is a real beauty, and that the Android OS is quite stunning. All I REALLY want now is a T-mobile compatible USB HSDPA modem!

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OK, so it is finally here. The T-mobile G1 is the first handset in the world to run the new Android OS. And while that is all mighty interesting, the real loser in all of this is Microsoft.

Here is why I think the mobile department in Redmond will suffer a lot from this new phone:

1) Their number one client has defected (partially); HTC has been making Windows Mobile phones for ages. They are without a doubt the biggest customer and have clearly been a little disappointed in the direction Microsoft has taken them. In recent years, they have had to do a lot of work to make Windows Mobile more attractive (TouchFlo for example). This may be just one phone, with one operator, but it does show that HTC will not sit back and stick to just one OS. The hardware used in the G1 is quite impressive, and at that price point it is even more attractive than the iPhone (albeit not as sexy).

2) The G1 is perfect for the more “hip” T-mobile customers. The kind of kids that send text messages 24/7. The kind of kids that are currently using the T-mobile Sidekick! And it just so happens that Microsoft purchased Danger (who make the Sidekick) last year! OUCH. When these kids are eligible for a contract renewal, rest assured that the G1 will be high on their must-have list. All T-mobile has to do now, is create a prepaid version.

3) Windows Mobile 7 has been delayed AGAIN. It is now on track for a late 2009 release. By then, the next iPhone will be here, Symbian S60 will be available on touch screen phones, the Android platform will be on more phones, and all Blackberry phones will have 3G. There will be very little room left for Microsoft.

4) Everything in the G1 shows how they have learned from the iPhone. From the Android applications store to the built in accelerometer. Microsoft on the other hand has learned nothing from the iPhone. You can’t deny that Apple created the basis for all future mobile operating systems. In this day and age, Microsoft doesn’t even have a decent mobile browser, and installing apps on your Windows phone is still as enjoyable as a root canal.

Of course, the G1 is not perfect; it lacks Exchange support, it has nothing for the corporate user and little is known about any of the big players working on applications for it. But I’m convinced that every mobile developer in the world is looking closely at October 22nd, and the 400,000 G1’s T-mobile plans to ship by the end of the year. With some developers in the Apple App store making $250,000 in a few months, more people will want in on similar action. If anyone can do it, Google can.

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Tomorrow is a big day for Google and T-mobile. The long awaited Android OS  has found its first phone in the HTC developed “G1/Dream” handset. 

This new phone and OS is important for several reasons;

- It will be the first non Windows/Blackberry/Danger powered smartphone to be launched on T-mobile. Up till now, they have always stayed clear of Symbian powered phones, and they don’t have the iPhone

- It will also be their first 3G enabled smartphone, with the rumored specifications in the G1, it would not have been possible to take full advantage of all the features without access to 3G.

- It will finally provide a serious alternative to the iPhone; Verizon and Sprint already launched fairly successful touch screen phones on their networks, so T-mobile was clearly lagging a little.

And finally; with T-mobile acting as the launch partner for Google, the world will be watching, AT&T already had their party with the iPhone and now T-mobile gets to have some fun.

Check in tomorrow for updates on the new G1.

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Engadget is reporting that T-mobile will (finally) have 3G in most major US cities by the middle of next month. The cities lined up are:

Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle

Of course, this is all perfectly timed to be done along with the new Google Android phone that’ll be launched on T-mobile. I’m admittedly excited about this new phone, as it means we’ll have another OS to help force Microsoft to get Windows Mobile 7 released sooner.

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The web is abuzz this afternoon with news of a new Google developed browser called “Chrome”. The specifications (on paper) are quite impressive, and if the sources have things right, it might be ready to download as early as tomorrow.

Some of the features in Chrome that should help differentiate it from all the other browsers are an “all knowing” address bar, a JavaVM built from the ground up, and a new and improved TAB system.

With this new browser, the market just got a little more interesting. Microsoft is working hard on IE8, Mozilla released Firefox 3 several months ago, Apple has made Safari quite  popular on the Mac desktop, and Opera is still working away to gather a small share of the market.

Source: Google Blogscoped

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How terribly sloppy. Gmail, arguably one of the worlds largest email services is currently using an expired SMTP security certificate.

I’m also not the only one getting this error; Google Groups

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