Google Android based T-Mobile G1 is better than Apple iPhone 3G

Looks like its game on. The T-Mobile G1 powered by Google’s open source Linux based operating system, Android, has already seen huge interest from the pundits and consumers alike. There have been recording pre-ordering for the G1 and it appears that the G1 will give the iPhone 3G quite good competition.

Personally I feel the biggest disadvantage that the G1 has is in the looks department. The design and looks of the G1 are nothing compared to the iPhone 3G. HTC just does not know how to make good looking phones. For them its all about using cheap plastic and tacky design philosophies.

Anyway. In a recent speed test done by CNET the T-Mobile G1 beat the pants of the Apple iPhone 3G with regards to web browsing. Click here to see the speed test video.

I am not sure how accurate this test is because web browsing performance depends on the network a lot. So even though the testers might have tried to neutralise the “network effect” I am not sure to what extent they were successful.

Unlocked Apple iPhone 3G for Hong Kong

Apple has started selling unlocked versions of its incredibly successful cell phone, the iPhone 3G, in Hong Kong. This is in direct contrast to Apple’s selling policies in other countries like Australia, India and the United States. 

In most of the countries Apple’s iPhone is available to consumers as a part of a contract from a mobile carrier. In the US, AT&T is the sole carrier for the iPhone. This tethering of the phone to a contract helps consumers acquire these high technology devices at more affordable prices. The downside of such a deal is the lock-in to a contract. Sales numbers suggest that consumers do not mind the contract lock-in that much.

However, there has always been and still is a demand for the iPhone to be sold unlocked. This would allow consumers to use the phone on carriers of their choice. Such a step would surely jack-up the price of the phone to by a huge margin, but discerning consumers would not mind that as long as they can use the phone on a network of their choice. This demand has a lot of sense. Not all carriers have the same coverage in all areas. So tying the iPhone to a specific carrier can practically alienate a large consumer base. Till date, Apple has been going into deals with carriers that have majority coverages in their respective countries. 

In Hong Kong, the iPhone used to be available only with a contract from Hutchinson. Now with the release of unlocked iPhones, Apple has instantly appealed to a larger consumer base. A lot of business people are tied to carriers that are contracted by their employers. For such people the unlocked iPhone is a great attraction albeit at a very expensive price.

It’s not instantly clear why Apple made this move. Maybe its just an experiment. If it is so, then Hong Kong is surely a great location for it. The country offers a huge market with substantial disposable income. Another potential candidate for such an experiment would be India.

So are we going to have unlocked iPhones in the US anytime soon? Apparently it all depends on how the experiment in Hong Kong goes.

Apple iPhone will lose to Google Android powered T-Mobile G1

The Google Android powered T-Mobile G1 was being waited for ever since reports leaked about it. Now its a reality. The G1 is the new kid on the block with the goods to give Apple’s hallowed iPhone 3G a run for its money. Spec wise the G1 surely has a lot more to offer than the iPhone. Check out my feature comparison between the two. T-Mobile’s network is not that bad even though it has limited 3G capabilities. But all that is going to change once T-Mobile rolls out its 3G network in full.

So does Apple need to worry? You bet it does. 

The G1 comes with a lot more goodies for its price. It beats the iPhone in most feature comparisons. The only thing that the iPhone has going in its favour is looks. The G1 is positively ugly. But it more than makes up for that with its feature list. Being powered by an open source operating system from Google also gives it an advantage. The thriving open source community is more likely to come up with future enhancements of the OS than any proprietary company can. 

The iPhone’s success was accelarated by the launch of the App Store from where users could download third-party applications for the device. Google has already announced the launch of the Android Market on the lines of the App Store but having a lot better and transparent policies for developers. With the Android Market, Google has ensured availability of a rich set of third-party applications for users. Google’s approach with the Android Market is going to be very hands-off thus encouraging more development of applications for the Android platform.

Apple’s arrogance in dealing with developers of the App Store is bound to hit it where it hurts the most. In fact, chances are high that a lot of miffed developers, whose apps were unreasonably rejected from the App Store, may be switching allegiance to the more open Android Market. 

In spite of the outcry from developers asking Apple to come clean on its publishing policy for applications on App Store, Apple has kept quite. Its attitude is more like a dictator and some developers might even view its policies as tyranny. And they would be right. What was bad with IAmRich,  NetShare, BoxOffice, MailWrangler or Podcaster applications? What was the reason for Apple banning these applications from its App Store? Will someone from Apple please answer? Or is it below their hallowed self esteem to answer such questions?

If Apple does not act quick and take certain important decisions, it runs a very high risk of alienating those loyal group of developers who are the reason behind the resounding success of the iPhone 3G, even though the device itself is plagued by many serious flaws. The sooner Steve Jobs and his group of control-freaks open things up in the App Store, the better it would be for Apple.

Comparison: Apple iPhone 3G vs. Google T-Mobile G1

Here’s a cursory feature comparison between Apple iPhone 3G and the new T-Mobile G1 powered by Google Android:

Feature	Apple iPhone	T-Mobile G1
Keyboard	On screen	Full QWERTY slide-out keyboard
Connectivity	3G, WiFi, Tri band GSM, UMTS, Bluetooth	3G, WiFi, Quad band GSM, Dual band UMTS, Bluetooth
Messaging	Email, Instant messaging, Microsoft Exchange support	Email, Instant messaging, Special GMail push support, Multimedia messaging, multi-tasking while messaging
GPS and other services	Assisted GPS	GPS, Google Maps, Google Maps Street View with compass mode
Media store	Apple iTunes music store	Amazon MP3 store
Camera	2 mp	3.1 mp
Dimensions (HxWxD)	4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 in	4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in
Weight	4.7 ounces	5.6 ounces
Storage	8/16 GB	Expandable up to 8GB
Screen resolution	480 x 320 163 ppi	480 x 320 65K color screen
Talk time	5 hour talk time, 300 hour standby time	5 hour talk time, 130 hour standby time
Application support	Apple App Store	Google Android Market
Voice dialling	No	Yes
Removable battery	No	Yes
Copy & Paste support	No	Yes

As seen from the above comparison, the phones stack up pretty well against each other. In connectivity, messaging, GPS and the camera, the T-Mobile G1 has an edge over the iPhone. Some would argue that having a full QWERTY keyboard is also a major feature. So we can consider the T-Mobile G1 better in that area too. In the others the iPhone is pretty good. The overall user experience should be better with the G1 because of certain features like copy & paste, etc. Also the fact that the G1 has a removable battery makes a big difference.

If T-Mobile can provide service and coverage at par with AT&T, the G1 does have the goods to give the iPhone a run for its money.

Apple tries to redeem itself through iPhone 2.1 software update

After facing the wrath of users about the numerours bugs that seemed to infest the iPhone 3G, Apple came out with the software update 2.0.1. The details page of this update contained “Bug fixes” as the only information. Unfortunately there were no details about what bugs have been addressed. The fix however resolved a few of the issues that iPhone users had been complaining about for weeks.

Now Apple is trying to redeem itself through the release of the 2.1 software update for the iPhone 3G. The only quirk is that this update has to be applied using the newly launched ITunes 8 software. So users who are on the older versions of ITunes would have to upgrade to 8 to apply this update. Nice move by Apple to force its users onto the latest release. 

Here is the list of bugs that have been addressed in this update (source: Apple’s update page):

• Decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls
• Significantly better battery life for most users
• Dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
• Improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• Faster installation of 3rd party applications
• Fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes for users with lots of third party applications
• Improved performance in text messaging
• Faster loading and searching of contacts
• Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• Repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
• Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

Lets hope that the users forgive Apple for its past arrogance because of this update.

More problems for Apple iPhone users

In spite of Apple selling around 3 million iPhone 3G cellphones worldwide and a huge lot of applications, the iPhone seems to be pretty far from being a technological success. Initially there were problems with connecting to Apple’s servers, then MobileMe failed to light a spark and then there were reports that the new plastic casing was not the best. But now the iPhone is facing an accusation that can potentially drag it down from its high pedestal.

Many iPhone users have complained about dropped calls even in areas that are under AT&T’s coverage map. Apple’s message boards have been flooded with complaints about this and as a result the main thread has been locked up. The reason cited by Apple is browser timeouts being faced by many users. On top of it Apple has not acknowledged the problem.

This call drop problem is not specific to the US. T-Mobile Netherlands has in fact issues a statement in which it has acknowledged the problem and also put the blame on their partner Apple.

Personally I like the iPhone but not for the value that it delivers. Its a cool gadget to have that showcases cutting edge technology. But definitely its not a replacement for business phones like the Palm Treo or RIM’s Blackberry. The coolness of the iPhone still lies in the cosmetics. If functionality and performance are the important, probably RIM, Palm and even Nokia have more convincing products.

Hopefully Apple would do something very soon to iron out this problem which according to many is the cardinal sin of cellphones.