Archive for October, 2008

Well you have had your bright new G1 for a week and everything is going peachy when you notice that your data pipe has been cut. Mmm what could this be attributed to? You think to yourself. Well T-Mobile generously gave everyone who pre ordered the G1 one week of data services for free. Well, guess what? That week is over. Unfortunately, T-Mobile blindly shut off data in one fail swoop and forgot to activate the paid plans. This is a bit inconvenient in the least because you have to call T-Mobile or access you account online to get your services activated. No problem with us, a couple of minutes on the phone and we were up and running again.

It has been rumored that a company, Aardvark, will be introducing a Microsoft Exchange client to the Android platform. You can stop by their website and sign up to participate in the Beta program when it becomes accessible for testing. Aardvark claims a real time wireless synchronization of email, calendar and contacts. In addition, a “popular” messaging platform will soon be available on the Google Android OS and the T-Mobile G1. Testing on the beta is to begin ASAP while the public launch is scheduled for Q1 of 2009. This is good new since one of the few down angles of the Android platform is the lack of wireless synchronization or MS Exchange for corporate email. Good luck Aardvark we are pulling for you.

Motorola can’t seem to stay out of the limelight these days. Motorola has big plans to restructure its infrastructure next year and Goggles Android platform will play a big part in this as far as their high end Smartphones and mid level devices are concerned. Unfortunately Co-CEO Sanjay jha tells us this will not be until next holiday season, 1 year away. Motorola is giving competitors a year jump head start on the market.
Motorola posted a loss in Q3, with cell phone sales reported down 30%. Mr. Jha already announced plans to cut back on the cell phone production of several models currently in production. Motorola also cut 3,000 jobs today with two thirds coming from the mobile phone section of the company.

AsusTeK is jumping on board the Android bandwagon. The multinational company Taiwan based company announced that they will release a Android Based phone in the first half of 2009. They will begin by selling the handsets under their own flag in the Taiwan market before expanding a customized version to overseas clients. AsusTeK which more commonly known as ASUS, is popular for its motherboards, graphics cards, notebooks, servers, mobile phones and computer cooling systems.

Yesterday we reported that there was a new (RC29) build for the G1. Two days ago we also reported that there was a security issue with Android. Well Ummm. I guess we are not as bright as we think because we couldn’t put this one together. Distribution of the RC28 update, which was released to the public right after the phone hit the public, was halted on Friday afternoon right after they were informed of a security flaw. The security flaw would allow potential ne’er-do-wells to install a keylogger within the browser, effectively recording private information.
Google chose to append the existing update with fixes for this security bug and redistribute it as update RC29. Hence, the new updates many of you got yesterday. Apparently Google stared the OTA update yesterday at 4PM Pacific. Anyone who did receive the RC28 will have to upgrade to the new and improved RC29.

It seems there is a new update going around from T-Mobile. My G1 is still running the archaic RC28 version but I am waiting for the upgrade. It should only take about 5 minutes and a couple of reboots. Who really knows what the fixes are but probably has to do with OS stabilization, and bug fixes.
Out with the old and in with the new updated RC29.

Seems everyone is up in arms and with good reason. We all know that paid apps don’t come out until next year giving a couple of months for G1 users to take advantage of the free apps developers will give out to get their name known. Well some devs will get their name out there but it won’t be associated with anything good. Here is the skinny. There are some “free” apps that are just links to the developer site asking for payment. That is good old bait and switch and down right shady. Concrete’s Fast Food Calorie Calculator is the main example of this but not the only and probably not the last offender. There is absolutely no other way to tick off a bunch of geeks than by trying some underhanded crap like this and thinking you can get away with it. Although Mobihand hosted the app they are not to be held responsible, Concrete is the delinquent who should for all intents and purposes get kicked from the market. Someone needs to fire their marketing exec!!!

Soon you will be able to get hold of a nice and shiny G1, at your local Wal-Mart. Yep you heard me. Load up the kids we are going shopping for a new Android handset. Rumor has it that the top 10 Wal-Mart’s in each market will have the privilege of carrying the G1. Think what you will, I think it is a great idea. T-Mobile has put so many stipulations on who will get the G1 that it leaves a big hole in the market and we know that Wal-Mart is good at filling those gaps. If you are a T-Mobile user you can’t buy the G1 unless you are in a 3G market. If this rumor is true you could go and purchase the G1 as soon as next month. This is the kicker; if you buy your G1 from Wal-Mart it will run you more $30.00 less than if you get it from a corporate locale. Of course with all of the Wal-Mart’s around, good luck finding the one with access to the G1 but it seems it would be worth a little research to find out.

Update: Wal-Mart will begin carrying the G1 beginning this Wednesday for $148.88. Per CnnMoney.com

Well HTC CEO, Peter Chou stepped up to bat and announced that original 1.5 million “estimate” May have been a bit overstated. The CEO states that the figure is at about 600,000 units by the end of the year which is still a pretty remarkable number considering those sales include just over 2 months of sales. This is still an estimate that could change as the G1 becomes more readily available and as we get closer to the holiday season.

Less than one week from the launch date of the G1, a security researcher has found a flaw in the Android software. Charles A. Miller, a senior security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators out of Baltimore, blew the whistle on Google hoping to head off potential, malicious attacks on G1 owners. According to Mr. Miller, the flaw could be manipulated by an attacker that could deceive a G1 user to a web site with malevolent code that could load onto the hand held and perform different tasks including the installation of software that could capture keystrokes. Google has owned up to the flaw and has fixed the open source version of the OS and is working with HTC and T-Mobile to get the patch to T-Mobile customers. Due to Androids architecture, the G1 is compartmentalized and would limit access of any intruder to a single application. Thank goodness for over the airwaves software patches, now we just have to wait for the fix and let T-Mobile push the patch to the phone.