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The press got a gander at the long-awaited G1, the first cellphone to use the Google-developed open source Android operating system, earlier this week. Android is an operating system, like Windows and Mac OS X (and somewhat like iPhone) for cellphones, which means anyone can develop applications for it. The G1, the first in what is likely a large number of future Android-powered devices, will be available from T-Mobile on October 22 for $179 with a two-year contract plus service plan.

So how does G1 compare with iPhone and the other iPhone clones, and how does Android compare with the iPhone software? There are some minor differences, pro and con, but they operate similarly with similar functionality.

Physically, the G1 more resembles a Sidekick, with a slide-up 3.2-inch touch screen (iPhone has a 3.5-inch LCD) that reveals a QWERTY keyboard beneath (iPhone has no physical QWERTY). G1 is a bit shorter but thicker than iPhone, but has minimal built-in memory compared to iPhone's 8 GB and 16 GB models; the G1 has a microSD slot and will come pre-loaded with a 1 GB card. Instead of a 3.5mm headphone jack, the G1 has a multi-use HTC miniUSB jack. The G1 has a 3 MP camera (iPhone has a 2 GB imager), but like iPhone, offers no zoom or video recording. Both have an accelerometer, but G1 only automatically rotates the on-screen image from portrait-to-landscape and vice versa in its mapping mode. Both offer finger-flick scrolling through lists, but G1 lacks iPhone's multi-touch control.

G1 provides hard-button control and navigation control options missing on iPhone. Aside from the usual physical "send" and "end" keys, there's Home and "back" buttons and a Menu key that pops-up different options depending on what function or application you're in. There's also a nipple track ball, ala BlackBerry.

Android presents a clean, clutter-free and intuitive interface and easy navigation. Included is GPS with "live" street-level views but no voice-prompted directions (lacking in iPhone but present in Samsung's Instinct from Sprint), push Gmail along with POP3 and IMAP email but no Microsoft Exchange, multimedia messaging (lacking in iPhone), and a music player that supports MP3, non-DRM AAC and WMA (iPhone supports just MP3 and AAC).

But there is no corresponding iTunes-like desktop syncing software to coordinate the transfer of all your content – music, photos, et al – between your PC and your phone. And right now, Android is Windows-only. The G1 will be available in black (pictured), brown and white (pictured).

The theory is that developers will write programs to fulfill any void in Android's basic operations and, because Andoid is an operating system, it can be upgraded. But whether or not the G1 is "better" than the iPhone, or the Samsung Instinct from Sprint of the LG Voyager from Verizon, is a question that can be better addressed once the G1 is actually in people's hands.

Finally, the G1 operates on T-Mobile's limited 3G HSDPA network, available in 16 markets right now, growing to 22 markets by launch and 27 by mid-November, compared to the more than 300 AT&T 3G markets iPhone has access to.

Labels: cellphones