T-Mobile G1 review: The whole cagoogle

Gsmarena have posted their review of the T-Mobile G1. Here are the key features, main disadvantages and final impression.

Key features:
Android OS
3.2" capacitive touchscreen display of HVGA resolution
Slide-out five-row full QWERTY keyboard
Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528 MHz CPU, 192 MB RAM
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps
3.15 megapixel autofocus camera
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
GPS
Trackball
Accelerometer sensor
Digital compass
Main disadvantages:
Quite unassuming looks
Pretty bulky and heavy
The slider mechanism rattles
No secondary videocall camera
No video recording
No flash support in the web browser
No file transfers or A2DP over Bluetooth
No FM radio
No screen auto rotation
No smart dialing

There we are at the end of our very first Android-powered review. The T-Mobile G1 made quite a start and had us impressed on quite a few counts. It's far from the perfect package but it gets the things that mater done and gets them done right. The interface is not only up and running, it has purpose and direction.

It maybe a long journey but the first step is daring enough. Instead of trying to expand on an already existing platform Google decided to build a new one from scratch and the effort is well worth it.

The immaturity of the platform has its disadvantages too - the limited third party software and the lack of hardware choices. Those are being addressed as we speak of course and the Android Market will be brimming with software sooner rather than later, while new Android devices should be just around the corner set to launch in 2009.

But back to the small story in the Android history, T-Mobile G1 or its sibling HTC Dream is already standing taller than its actual height. What would've been another average smart QWERTY messenger is the herald of Google OS. Of course, the lack of Flash support in the browser, Bluetooth file transfer or even a proper file manager will be used against the G1 but it's not what it would be remembered by.

As to the iPhone, it doesn't necessarily need to feel threatened at this point, but at least Apple will know that changing the rules on the mobile phone market is not their exclusive territory.