Continued...
Surprisingly, the big gap in the G1's features is support for music and other multimedia content where it is easily outclassed by the iPhone and the latest BlackBerrys. The G1 comes with an integrated music player and 3Mp (megapixel) camera, but does not allow users to take video clips.
More crucially, there is no way to sychronise your music with your PC; instead, you must load unprotected AAC, MP3, or WMA files on to a memory card or drag and drop music files on to the G1 while it is connected via a USB cable to a PC. However, users can download music directly from the Amazon music store using the G1's WiFi networking capabilities.
The lack of a standard headphone mini-jack is also annoying - users have to plug an adapter into the G1's proprietary USB port. On the plus side, the G1 has a removable rechargeable battery and, in my tests at least, was quite frugal - an overnight charge was enough to run it all the next day. Talk time is around five hours.
Overall, the G1 is an impressive first generation of a new type of smartphone, with many strengths offsetting a few weaknesses. It is well made and remarkably stable - my test unit has not crashed at all - even though it is actually a combination of a new mobile phone operating system (Android) developed by the Google-led Open Handset Alliance, new hardware built by HTC and, at least in the US, a new 3G mobile network being rolled out by T-Mobile USA.
It is also likely that many of the niggles I have identified will be addressed by software updates and by third-party applications offered through Goog-le's online store, the Android Market. Like Apple's App Store, the Android Market will offer free and low cost software packages - about 50 at launch - and is in my view the most exciting development.End.
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