G1 News

Another detailed look at the new firmware for the HTC Hero, demonstrated on the T-Mobile G1 by resident development genius Haykuro.

A good look at the latest build, complete with Twitter client and more detailed look at the home screens.

Sad part – unscrupulous folks have managed to leak Haykuro’s ROM, and his general loss of faith in the community has made him upset enough to take early retirement.

We’ll miss your updates, Haykuro, you made our G1s much happier when you were around!

T-Mobile is do to be backing Android heavily into this year, and are slated to have four phones powered by the new OS. We’ve just seen the latest one, dubbed the Motorola Morrison.

Looking similar to the ‘Bigfoot‘ in terms of form, the Morrison is a slider in the vein of the HTC Touch Pro, hiding a QWERTY keyboard behind the screen.

Further specs are unfortunately thin on the ground, but it’s interesting to see how similar the form factor is for all these devices! Not that free when making touchscreen phones, it turns out…the G1 is starting to look pretty unique!

Motorola is indeed the third partner for T-Mo hinted at earlier, and it proves that some big player are really committed to Android moving forward, with some needing it to be a success for them more than others.

If you aren’t as technically savvy as a NASA control centre operator and just want Cupcake in your G1 early, it seems like you can do it without rooting your G1. I know, right? Great news!

Oddly, you do need the Blighty version of Android 1.5, but it will work okay in your US G1…provided you follow the darned instructions!

This is courtesy of bigfoot85t and Android Central, by the by, full disclosure and all that!

1. Head over to the T-mobile Forums to download the UK version of Android 1.5 Cupcake
2. Put the downloaded file into your SD card
3. Turn ur phone off and re-boot it holding the home button
4. When you see the triangle hit alt+L
5. Then alt+S
6. Press home and back when it tells you to (to reboot your phone)
7. It’ll say installing Radio after you hit home+back (thats normal)
8. It’ll reboot a couple times and after you see the new Android loading screen, you’ve got Cupcake.
9. When Android 1.5 for the US comes out repeat the process with the US download

Being the UK version of Cupcake, you see how hobo-fabulous us guys in the UK live, without snazzy things like Voice Search and Amazon MP3. Them’s the breaks, but you know that you can upgrade to the real deal when it does come out, so worry not and enjoy early!

I feel for you guys, I really do. Whilst the roll-out seems to have gone without incident in the UK and Europe, the US launch of Google’s Android 1.5 “Cupcake” update has faced yet more delays!

An official announcement seems to be telling the US to sit on their hands for a bit and wait:

G1 Community,

We’d like to provide an update on the rollout of Android 1.5 for T-Mobile G1 customers.
We are working diligently to get Android 1.5 out as soon as possible, while aiming to ensure a consistent, positive experience for our customers. We’re finalizing the build this week to ensure optimal functionality and smooth delivery. Therefore, the rollout schedule has been reset by approximately a week, and we expect all G1 customers will have the update by early June.

Your device will notify you when the update is available.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.” T-Mobile USA update

Many, including SlashGear, think that it’s the T-Mo tinkering – the addition of MyFaves etc. – that has caused this minor setback.

Well, the delivery thus far has been all but smooth, let’s give them the extra time they need to get it out and get it right. It’s worth the wait.

See you in early June, then?

T-Mobile are big on the Android platform, but has the HTC Magic moving to Vodafone forced their hand in looking for other manufacturers to cosy up with? A T-Mobile spokesperson has come up with the following loaded statement:

“We are looking to launch multiple Android-based devices in the second half of this year with three partners…[and we will] see Android find its way down into feature phones on the low end.”

Open source means that the price of an operating system is no longer a barrier to entry, hence Android for everyone! But who are the three hookups? HTC and Samsung are obvious, but the third? Huawei? Motorola?

Gadget Stylist has a very interesting article on that very matter, with Motorola’s full-on adoption of the platform revealing their long term gameplan…or should we say life line?

Whilst we all know the fate that has befallen the HTC Magic in the UK, becoming a Vodafone exclusive and all, but it seems that the Android handset will still come to the US under the T-Mobile banner!

Better yet, it seems that the T-Mo market research that was being done to find a new name has found a winner!

On their stock computers, the MyTouch3G hs popped up in black, white, and even a fetching merlot colour…

Which one are you going to get, or are you sticking to the G1? Also, aren’t you glad it didn’t end up being called the Genius 3G with Google?

Source: TMoNews

Waiting for some cheap G1 deals before getting involved with Android? Well, the Android-powered T-Mobile G1 has managed to become available for $98 on Amazon USA – $80 lower than its November release cost.

The $98 is only for new customers, so unfortunately existing T-Mobile converts can’t get involved. However, it’s only a matter of time before they cut prices across the board themselves, making the most unique handset on the market even more appealing to the masses.

Source: Network World

They do things differently in France, I’m going to spare you the lazy cultural stereotypes of a ‘Year in the Merde‘ , but they do. Whereas in the UK, HTC’s very first Android powered handset was called the G1, in France it goes under the moniker of the HTC Dream.  This is a question of network rather than some anglo-French divide. The G1 is released via T-Mobile in the UK while in France the phone will be released via Orange.

The French definitely do follow in Britain’s foot steps in many cultural and historical ways, as with the G1and HTC Magic. For instance way back in 1689, Britain chopped the head off Charles the 1st and a mere 140 or so years later they did the same to poor old Louis the XVI. 5 months after the G1 was released in the UK, on March the 15th the phone will finally be released in France. It’s all about, the French gazing over the channel and seeing what a good thing Britain’s got going on and thinking, “I’ll have my self some of that” but in French of course.

…or to be exact, ‘Steve.’

This new direction the US T-Mobile G1 adverts are taking is one of crtics and their ‘raving’ quoables. “Look, the interweb loves it, please love it too!”

Clever ending though…

See, T-Mobile UK? Less flashmobs and more out-and-out G1 endorsements, please! Most people still do not ‘get’ it!

Source: Android Central

Awesome! Got the new T-Mobile G1 RC9 update this afternoon!

There’s no Google Latitude and no Voice Google Search in UK RC9 that was in the other versions. Not awesome!

Possibly the UK RC9 has no voice search for the same reason the iPhone app didn’t come out, because it won’t understand the accents of the Queen’s English, but why no Latitude?

The geo-based app is supposed to let you see where your friends are on Google Maps (provided they let you…), is it that the maps aren’t up to scratch in this part of the world?

Oh, and the Amazon MP3 market and Instant Messaging support for anything other than Google Talk aren’t back either…but that’s a given. Beginning to accept the lack of support.

Still no paid apps in the Marketplace either…this is getting to be a joke.

Please sort it out T-Mobile UK! We’re starting to lose faith! As empty 66 commented on the post below: “If 20% of users are buying a T-Mobile G1, why can’t they get the support they deserve from T-Mobile?!”