Google launched their brand spanking new G1 mobile phone in New York earlier today and immediately it has been heralded as the iPhone killer... but in my opinion, it's hasn't got a hope in hell.
Why ? Well frankly the name is a bit crap (G1 isn't exactly as funky as iPhone), it really doesn't move the game on enough and it simply doesn't look as good (and in these image obsessed times that we live in, looks are everything... well at least when it comes to choosing a mobile phone).
I'm not saying it's a bad phone. Apparently it's pretty good according to most reviews. Physically it isn't that different to the iPhone. It has many similar features (touch sensitive screen, GPS capability, mobile internet access, built in camera which is 1 megapixel more than the iPhone... woo hoo... ).
Indeed the G1 has some additional features that the iPhone doesn't have. For example it has a Blackberry style thumb ball. And a slideout qwerty keyboard. Nice, but hardly revolutionary.
Actually the one area it genuinely excels over the iPhone, is in terms of browsing. Using Googles new Android 'Open Source" platform it allows browsers to quickly access the web but (more importantly) it allows anyone to write software / applications for the platform for free.
Actually, that's pretty cool. But seriously, how many people out there are going to choose that functionality over the way the G1 looks by comparison to an iPhone ?
The G1, using a HTC unit, will be available for free in the UK just before Xmas exclusively through T-Mobile on tariff plans staring at about 40 quid. And it may cause an initial wave of interest but nothing to that of the tsunami of hype created by the iPhone.
Maybe when LG and Samsung launch their more design focused units supporting the G1 platform next year will it have a chance to compete... but by then we will inevitably have yet another new version of the iPhone which will have moved things on even further...
Blackberry isn't much of a name either - I think for some users, me included the slide outboard is pretty nice addition.
Its a HTC/T Mobile Phone with a Google OS. MAJOR DIFFERENCE
Is it an iPhone killer (or 'IPK', as some people are already saying)? Does it really matter? When Fiat launched their new 500, we weren't falling over ourselves to ask whether it was a Mini killer, were we? (Besides, that's Verne Troyer's job). It's definitely the Operating System that's the biggest threat to the mobile industry's status quo - and that'll happen when, as Steve says, there are a few more Android-powered phones out there.
Steve Blakeman
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 27 Oct 2008
Total Posts: 59
