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[JimH]

I bought a Google Developer phone (HTC G1) last week.  It's unlocked and cost $400.  I got it today, tried a couple of SIM cards in it, without any luck, then took it to AT&T.

After about a half hour of head scratching, the AT&T guys were able to get it working.  It's only working with EDGE right now, but should open up to the 3G network soon -- they think.

It's a pretty nice phone, I think.  Touch screen interface, a few more buttons than an iPhone, and a slideout keyboard.  I'm still learning how to get around on it, but the phone has a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, a really simple music player, and it keeps in Sync with Google whatever email, contacts, and schedule you keep on Google.  You have to have a Google email account to get it going.

IT WORKS WITH MC13

I had a lot of trouble getting the 1GB MicroSD chip to show up as a drive on my PC.  I tried a lot of different things.  What worked was a Google Search, which showed me how.  My notes:

Connect with USB.  Touch and open Notification area at top.  Tap on "USB Connected" and choose Mount.  Now the drive will show in Windows Explorer.  In other versions of the Android OS, this may be done in the settings for SD card.  EDIT -- the mount command must be used each time you connect.  I hope this changes in a future version.

After that, I added it as a handheld device in MC, changed the default location for music to Music/[Artist]/[Album] and supported filetypes to MP3;JPG;MPG (for now).  I told it to convert images to 640x480, video to PSP (MPEG).  Then I synced a few files.  It worked for audio and images, and I couldn't test video because I couldn't find (or it doesn't have) a video player.

We should be able to do a nice job of supporting this family of phones.

[JimH]

I downloaded a program called Video Player from Google applications.  It was easy to find and install.  It plays the movie trailer I synced to it with MC (converting to PSP).

[neFAST]

Are you able to sync with google notebook and google docs?

[JimH]

I don't think so.  This version of Android only shows contacts, calendar, and e-mail as options to sync.  Maybe later.

[jeroen020]

Are you able to sync with google notebook and google docs?

I got the Android yesterday, and although I haven't had time yet to test it with MC I can confirm that for me it showed Google Docs just fine via the browser, if you go to a google domain (e.g. reader) it will be available. Maybe you need to have the google account you use with the Android set up for google apps first before they show.

The Google Docs access is just browser based, as it's on PC, but the spreadsheet I checked out looked OK and navigating/editing worked fine.

I tried mine on Vodafone NL and all works as expected, including 3G / 3.5G. You need to follow the instructions in the box how to set up an APN (access point for internet access) if you're not on T-Mobile though. Vodafone is:
live.vodafone.com
login: vodafone
passwd: vodafone

that's it.

I'm very happy with the BlackBerry Bold (that also does MC syncing and has a great music player that plays well with the 16 GB MicroSD I got for it) so I'm not sure if I'll switch. I don't like the fact that the Android has a proprietary headphone connector with USB connection but the superb integration into Gmail (unlike IMAP-based clients it shows you stuff like labels) makes it an appealing unit out of the box, let alone what the app developers may do.

Now J River, for that streaming client for Android....

[bwaldron]

We should be able to do a nice job of supporting this family of phones.

Sounds good!

What's battery life like?

[JimH]

What's battery life like?

I don't know yet.  I heard one of the guys at T-Mobile telling a customer that "smart phones are different -- plan on charging every night".  I don't think that's quite right.  I charged it last night and I've still got about 3/4 of the battery left.  I'll try to report back later.

[JimH]

The charge is good for four days, at least, but I wasn't using it heavily.

[JimH]

MC13.0.95 added support for sync to Android / HTC G1.

[crimsonblake]

Support was added? I'm using MC13 the latest and it still doesn't show up as a device. How do I go about adding sync?

[JimH]

Welcome to Interact.  Did you do the "Mount" thing on the Android?

I sometimes have to disconnect and reconnect the phone, and it seems to take a long time to show up, but MC13 will find it.  Make sure you have the latest build from the MC13 board.

[crimsonblake]

It finally managed to find it. I just wasn't giving it enough time. Even found it on my portable install. ME SO HAPPY!

[JimH]

ME TOO!

[glynor]

Hey, Jim... How's the battery life treating you after a month of use?

When I did the side-by-side testing with the iPhone, I did find the G1 a slight bit better (but we're talking marginal differences, they both still needed to be charged about every 1 1/2 days).  However, the new 2.2 iPhone OS update did somehow magically make my iPhone's battery life vastly improved (don't ask me how), and now I can almost always go 2 full days between charging, unless I'm using it a LOT on a particular day.

I use mine fairly heavily though, especially with things that force the display to light up and use the wireless (web browsing).  I've talked to plenty of other people who regularly make it through 3 days with theirs, but used much more like a traditional phone with iPod features (and occasional web browsing).

[JimH]

I'm charging every 3 or 4 days.  I don't use it heavily.

[Messiahs]

I have to charge my G1 nearly every day with heavy use. I only have a iPodTouch, but web browsing is much more faster with the iPod then with the G1.