68
HTC Dream
$179.00
Released October, 2008
The Pros:Large touch-screen. Integrated GPS including Google StreetView. Dedicated full QWERTY keyboard.
The Cons:No headphone jack. Weak battery life with use of 3G. No camera flash.
The T-Mobile G1 (aka HTC Dream or HTC G1) is the first mobile device to run Android, Google's open-source mobile phone platform, released on September 23, 2008. This mobile device competes squarely with the Apple iPhone, and boast a similar feature-set, including WiFi/3G network access, a touch screen, web browser, and downloadable third-party applications via the Google marketplace.
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The HTC Dream features a full QWERTY keyboard tucked away behind a sliding 3.2" touch screen display.
Features
- Runs Google Android software platform
- Available on T-mobile
- Touch screen
- 5 Row QWERTY keypad
- Trackball
- Dedicated camera button
- Comes pre-loaded with Amazon MP3 store
- No 1/8" headphone jack; uses proprietary USB connector; regular headphones require adapter
- Downloadable third-party applications via the Google marketplace
- 3.2 MP digital amera (no flash) 2048 x 1536
- Video playback files - H.264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and Codec 3GP
- Dedicated YouTube Player
- Audio playback: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, MPEG4, WAV, MIDI, REAL AUDIO, OGG
- Wallpaper supports JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF
- Speakerphone
- Ringtones (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA)
- HTTP, WAP Push, xHTML
- Bluetooth (class 1)
- Picture Caller ID
- SMS and MMS support
- POP, IMAP, and SMTP, AOL, and GMAIL email
- AIM, MSN, YAHOO, and GTALK messaging
- Quad Band (850, 900, 1800, 1900), 3G
- WiFi: 802.11b & 802.11g
- UMTS (1,4), HSDPA, SUPL
- battery: 1150mAh, talk time: 350-400 min., standby: 320 - 400 hours
- Sync capable with Google Calendar, Contacts
- GPS and Google Streetview with built-in compass
- Screen size: 3.17" with HVGA (480 x 320)
- Dimensions: 4.60 in x 2.16 in x 0.62 in (117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm)
- Weight: 5.6 oz (158g)
- Price: $179 from T-mobile with 2 year contract, available for $149 at various retailers at a discount (Walmart, Costco)
- Release date: October 22, 2008
User Reviews (34)
Pros & Cons
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20
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19
Integrated GPS including Google StreetView
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19
Dedicated full QWERTY keyboard
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19
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18
Sync with Google calendar
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17
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14
First phone to run Google Android platform
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13
Most apps are free, and don't require approval before being posted to marketplace
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12
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8
Dedicated web browser and camera buttons
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8
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8
MicroSD expansion up to 8GB, includes 1GB
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7
good support for modern video and audio formats
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6
Small form factor, similar to iPhone
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4
allows mass messaging and message forwarding unlike the iphone
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1
Includes adapter for 3.5mm headphone jack
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16
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11
weak battery life with use of 3G
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6
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3
does not announce contact name for confirmation when voice-dialing via bluetooth
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2
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2
No desktop sync application
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1
Web server does not support streaming media
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1
on-screen dial pad requires focus for dialing
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0
Only available on T-mobile with limited 3G network coverage
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0
Inconsistent user interface - physical buttons, on screen menus, popup menus
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-1
No built-in video player; requires download from app store
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-1
Slide screen prone to breakage
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-1
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-3
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-4
Touch screen is old style, not multitouch
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-6
Tinny speaker and no headphone jack make it unusable as a digital media player.
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-6
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-8
Tiny hard to type keyboard.
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-9
No quality control for third party software.
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Comments (5)
Omar:
#htc_dream I think it's up to each Application, so can't say in general whether they're all US-centric or not. However, right now I would guess that they're mostly US-centric simply because Android hasn't really come out anywhere else yet. In 2009 Android will handsets will be coming out in more countries so that'll prompt app-developers to make more global applications, but for now it's better for developers to just focus on the US market, especially with the shopping applications!
Dec 29, 08
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kdm:
#htc_dream I like the look of this phone too, but can anyone tell me if the applications are US-centric ?
Or do they come tailored to the country in which the phone is sold ?
To take one example, off the top of my head, I 've seen one on YouTube that lets you compare prices and find nearby locations selling an item, simply by scanning its barcode. Will this, for instance, work in the UK or will it only return US prices ?
Dec 29, 08
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marvingreenberg:
#htc_dream I have the phone, and like the idea of the phone, and am even forgiving that it isn't the iPhone. Apple is Apple and they get usability RIGHT (although iPhone 1 had some issues). My attraction to Android was that it was more open, and I hoped that Google (a software company) and the Android platform would have enough influence to get many of the usability issues right.
My biggest annoyance is that I use the web browser, browse to a streaming media link (real time feed of a radio station, m3u,pls) and it doesn't play. This phone has all the codecs, streaming media is no different. This may be a deliberate limitation by T-mobile (some problem in their network with a long-lived connection?) but probably not since there are other applications that stream music. So its probably just a stupid oversight.
Then there are tons of usability problems. You can filter you contact list by the groups in your google contacts. But as of Nov 6, 2008, the Contact application doesn;t let you create or manage or show groups -- you have to do that online at Google Gmail. Further, GMail makes three special groups (Friends,Family, Co-workers) and these DON"T EVEN show up. Probably a bug in google's Contact API. And to use the groups from Contacts, you have to do: button: Menu, touch screen: 'More', touch screen:Show by Group, touch screen:
, touch screen: 'OK'. And then it shows only the contacts in that group, but with no indication it is filtered. Why not just a filter pull down or popup menu on the contacts tab or something. Calendar similar requires 4 or 5 button presses to change the displayed calendars.
Anyways, I knew I wouldn't get an iPhone user-experience on this first Android phone. I was hoping for better, but luckily its all software and can (and should) get fixed in time (even if I have to write a Contacts replacement... :-) ) Nov 6, 08
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Discordanian:
#htc_dream I really like the
idea of this phone. I just have to have patience because I don't currently have the cash to spring for it just yet. I hope that the phone pans out because I'd love to save up and get it.
Oct 18, 08
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