Android phones making their way into the wild

A Google employee surfs the Web with his Android phone.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)

Most of us will have to wait until October 22--or later, given that T-Mobile sold out--but if you have the right connections, you can get an Android phone now.

Google co-founder Larry Page flashed his Android phone briefly in a meeting two weeks ago with reporters, but they're trickling farther down the ranks at the Internet giant, too.

I snapped this shot of one Google employee surfing CNN.com with his Android phone while waiting for his chief executive, Eric Schimdt, to talk about energy at a San Francisco speech last week.

Android is the Linux-based open-source operating system Google created in partnership with several other companies. T-Mobile is selling the first Android-powered phones, the G1, but other manufacturers are expected to join in 2009.

[electronista]

Reminds me of the hoopla when you'd occasionally catch Apple employees with their iPhones before June 2007. It was like seeing the Holy Grail, if you believe some people!

I know a Google employee who's had a G1 for several months now (back when it was just known as the HTC Dream) and is just relieved that he can talk about it openly in most regards.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/formationofme/2886143230/

one of the Android programmers who joined google with a bunch of former palm coders

[SqlserverCode]

I think that Android phone looks like a brick, reminds me of the Nintendo
Geek factor = 10
Cool factor = 0


http://lessthandot.com/

[lacfnc06]

android is an operating system not a phone

this is one of many phones running the android OPERATING SYSTEM

you can't say that android looks like a brick because android doesn't. the t-mobile g1 might but not the OS

[AppleSuxLeo]

If it looked like a brick , but won the 24 hrs. of LeMans...I take the brick. The Danger , inc. designed Sidekick (which this is similar to) is the best design for texting. It`s akin to a mini-laptop. iPhone is poor way to do it as you are trying to enter text on same screen you are looking at (along with all the smudges). Apple doesn`t have tactile feedback either. Could have learned from the BB Storm ! Apple just doesn`t get it. Function comes first. Open platform , roomy keyboard=winner !

[yacahuma]

I agree. It does not look cool like the iphone. Maybe they could have a version without the keyboard. Then maybe they can make it thinner. Not everyone need I keyboard. I think iphone proved that.

[lacfnc06]

android is an operating system not a phone

this is one of many phones that will be running the android OPERATING SYSTEM

you can't say that they need to change the look of the android phone becasue this one phone so you can't base your opinion of android on this one phone.

it seems to me like you and the person above you no nothing about android.

next time do your research first!

[cjwall67]

Give me the brick anyday. Make it like a nextel phone with some titanium armor and grippier surfaces so it's easy to hang on to. I don't know of anybody who hasn't dropped their device at least once, and the reaction is always the same: "Oh s**t!! I hope it still works. Thanks to the cool factor, phones like the Motorola DP650 I had for eight years don't exist anymore. Impressing others is okay unless you actually got the thing to use it (and I don't mean for texting the person sitting across the room from you), then the "cool factor" wears off pretty quick in the real world.

[nschively]

I got a chance to play with one of these two weeks ago at a wedding. Best Man was a Google employee/contractor who was like, "I just got it from doing some stuff as a sort of thank you; I'm not highly placed or anything."

I gotta tell you, pics don't really do it justice. It's got a nice feel in your hand. Nice heft - not too heavy, but you feel like you have a good, solid piece of equipment in your hand. Much narrower than it appears in pics. UI had a kind of unfinished feel to it - pretty responsive, but something not quite done. iPhone interface much slicker, but still more responsive than my N800. The drawer thing was pretty cool. Wished I could have taken it for more of a test drive....

[alexisbellido]

Yeah, I don't really care if it looks as a brick. What matters is that it works as promised.

I don't want to be the guy with the cool-looking gizmo, I prefer to be the guy who can solve problems with his brick-looking gizmos.

And of course, Android is open source. Long live open source, either on desktops or phones.

[cnetbioch]

2 comments:

- HTC phones tend to be flimsy when opening the keyboard. Wonder if the Android phone will break over time.

- Hope they make the volume as high as the Blackberry Curve. Didn't purchase the Apple I-phone because of the low earpiece volume and lack of a real keyboard.

[PCUser2008]

that phone looks like a handheld coleco game.