Rivals: T-Mobile G1 versus iPhone 3G

Google and T-Mobile have finally taken the wraps off the first Android-based mobile phone. The T-Mobile G1 could well have the best of it all in terms of hardware, software, applications, and network deals, but let's take a closer look and see if it's a worthy opponent for the iPhone 3G.

Please bear in mind that this has been written just a couple of hours after the official announcement, hence not all of the G1's specifications are yet known. I'll update when the specs become available.

Look & Feel

While the iPhone 3G is pretty much all touchscreen, the G1 combines a touchscreen, more buttons underneath (including a trackball for navigation), and a slide out full-QWERTY keyboard (in fact, to be pedantic, it's the screen that slides up to reveal the keyboard).

The official dimensions of the G1 haven't been given yet (rumours may well exist online). You could take a guesstimate that it's likely to have a similar footprint to the iPhone, given that it has a widescreen display, but it will be thicker due to the sliding mechanism.

Screen

Both handsets offer a high quality colour touchscreen. The exact resolution of the G1 isn't known, but it's likely to be similar to that of the iPhone.

Camera

The G1 features a three megapixel camera, arguably only slightly better than the iPhone's two megapixels. We don't yet know if the G1 will feature such niceties as autofocus, flash, zoom, face recognition, and so on, though it would be hard to get it to do less than the iPhone's camera does. Expect a low- to midrange camera on the G1.

It's not clear whether the G1 can shoot video with the camera, though many handsets do, so it wouldn't be a surprise.

Multimedia

The G1 is expected to be able to play a wide range of DRM-free music and video formats. The iPhone also plays a range of music formats, including anything from iTunes, but only plays Quicktime-friendly video.

It looks likely that the G1 will have access to the Amazon MP3 music store, coming to the UK in the next month or so. The iPhone uses iTunes.

Navigation

Both handsets feature Google Maps and can be used to find driving directions. It will be interesting to see if any additional features come "out of the box" on the G1 that aren't currently on the iPhone (or other Google Maps-friendly phones), such as walking directions and Street View. It's highly likely.

Communications

Both handsets are 3G-ready, have Wi-Fi, and non-A2DP Bluetooth.

Web Browsing

Both handsets use a version of Webkit, upon which both Safari and Chrome are based. Google describes the G1's browser as "Mini Chrome". Effectively, both handsets are running much the same browser, so it will be interesting to see which handles pages better.

What isn't clear is whether the G1 will handle Java and Flash. It's highly likely it will, though, which is a distinct advantage over the iPhone.

Presumably, Android developers could release other web browsers for use on the G1.

Operating System

The T-Mobile G1 uses the brand-spanking-new Android operating system, fresh faced and eager to get into the wild.

The iPhone, of course, uses OS X.

Storage

Nothing official on how much internal or add-on memory the G1 has. I'd be surprised if it's less than 16GB, though, given everything that's going to be thrown at the handset. It probably has a memory expansion port, too.

The iPhone currently comes in 8GB and 16GB varieties, with no expansion possibilities.

Applications

The G1 will get access to the Android Market, which in layman's terms is a similar concept to the iPhone App Store, though potentially a lot more open. It's not clear how much control Google will wield over applications -- probably not as much as Apple!

Pricing & Networks

In the US, the G1 will be available exclusively on T-Mobile, reportedly for $25pm (minimum) for unlimited data.

In the UK, it will also come on T-Mobile, with the handset being free on plans over £40pm, again with unlimited data.

This seems quite a bit cheaper than the iPhone, especially in the US, but we'll have to wait and see how things pan out.

Conclusion

The T-Mobile G1 seems like a very admirable first attempt at an Android phone. It's a very decent hardware design, regardless of the operating system. How Android stacks up in real-world usage will be the crunch for this, and subsequent, handsets.

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