G1 News

Lifehacker finally has some ammunition for us T-Mobile G1 owners being bullied by iPhowners over the relative dearth of quality apps, listing what they think are twelve of the best free Android Market wares.

Whilst not games, these applications can still provide hours of entertainment as well as tons of new functionality for the humble Google phone.

Gmote: Turns your G1 into a PC remote, hence the name 1Re Gmote! Browse contents, ramp up the volume, ramp the volume back down once your significant other complains that it’s too loud, even use the nubbin to control the mouse on screen! A little bit of software on your computer + this app makes it all happen, for free.

Sticky: Post-it notes for your home screen. Mac-a-licious.

Nightwatch: G1 + phone charging + nightstand = BOOM! Bedside clock, everytime you charge.

Hungry!: A 21st century solution to an age old problem. Shopping list + e-mail functionality = no more repeat trips at the lady’s behest due to forgotten items!

Shake Awake: On a call? Need to get to the keypad? No dice, at present. The handset goes to sleep at the moment, never to be roused. Shake Awake, allows you to…shake awake!

Useful Switchers: Root access to a bunch of settings in one place. Ringer, Wi-Fi, GPS, all handled from a single screen.

Contacts Clean-up: Neatness freaks rejoice! All of your phone number layouts can be arranged just the way you desire, for quick all-in-one rearranging.

ActionComplete: Pro procrastinator? Get things done with this action plan application to drive you to success!

No Signal Alert: No signal? Your phone will let you know. More useful than you think. I just hope that you think its more useful than I do.

Free Dictionary Org: It’s free, but it only works online. Argh! It’s like one of those puzzles in Saw! I want to find the meaning of a word, but might have to spent some of my precious data charge to do so! One of life’s great quandries…remains unsolved with this app.

Weather Channel: Look out the window? Forget that! Weather Channel app, sucker! Is the window going to give you a ten day forecast, humidity percentage in Sao Paulo or details on today’s UV index? Exactly.

Locale: Time/location aware phone profiles? Sick.

Get them whilst they’re free! Just be grateful you don’t have a BlackBerry, or you might have had to pay £7.85 for them.

Well, these new price cuts move the G1 up from ‘must have’ to ‘necessary for existence,’ as the January T-Mobile UK sale sees monthly charges slashed yet again!

A free T-Mobile G1 on a Combi 30 tariff will set you back a mere £31.50, down from £35. When you consider the same deal was 40 quid upon the release of the G1, so these drops signify a real deal on the Android pioneer!

Get involved.

Google has launched visually optimised search results, designed to fit the screens and functionality of the T-Mobile G1 and Apple’s iPhone. Search results now load faster, and are adjusted to automatically fit on the display.

Of course, if you are hankering to kick it old school, you can always click the “Classic” link found at the bottom of any Google mobile page. On the G1 you can access the new results page after searching through either the search widget on the Android home page, or through Google.com in the browser itself. In addition, Google has added buttons and expandable maps for local business search results.

Helpful!

Yes, it seems the the laptop maker has been hiding some special design skills back, as this new handset looks pretty amazing! This is an early (but working) OPhone, the product of an alliance between China Mobile and Lenovo, seemingly made purely make the rest of the planet somewhat jealous!

This phone will be one of the first ‘OPhones,’ a blanket term for the product of China Mobile creating their own mobile phone operating system, combining open source Android with China’s own 3G TD SCDMA network. ‘Why share profits with anyone, when you can just make your own phones and OS?’ seems to be China Mobile’s strategy, which was where the difficulty getting Apple’s iPhone sold in the country stemmed from.

Looks gorgeous! Those dot-matrix buttons at the base of the handset give it such a minimalist/futuristic theme!

Obviously, the bespoke operating system means that it is unlikely to see a release outside of China…boo!