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GPhone As Good As iPhone, Says Gadget King

G1.jpgWalt Mossberg has tested Google's GPhone and concludes that Apple needs to watch its back. Meanwhile, Research in Motion who?

I have been testing the G1 extensively, in multiple cities and in multiple scenarios. In general, I like it and consider it a worthy competitor to the iPhone... But the two devices have different strengths and weaknesses, and are likely to attract different types of users.

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If you've been lusting after the iPhone's functionality, but didn't like its virtual keyboard or its user interface or its U.S. carrier, AT&T, the G1 may be just the ticket for you. But it does have some significant downsides.

Mossberg's GPhone positives:

  • Keyboard.  Keys too flat and weird bulge in body, but at least there's a keyboard.
  • Removable battery.
  • Expandable memory.
  • Cheaper. Phone $179 vs. Apple $199, Data plan $25 vs $30.
  • Equally slick software.
  • Better "desktop."
  • Higher-res camera.
  • Much easier to make telephone calls.  Imagine that.
  • Key features that Apple bizarrely still omits: cut-and-paste, MMS, 
  • Ability to legally unlock and go to another carrier (with fat fee)
  • Longer-lasting battery.  A whole day. Imagine that.
  • Slightly longer talk time. (5 hours, 19 minutes more)
  • Wicked cool compass that orients you on map.

Mossberg's G1 downsides:

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  • Chunky brick.  20% heavier, 30% thicker.
  • Puny memory. 1 gig, one eighth of iPhone.
  • Only 128 mg memory for third-party apps.
  • Too much lock-in with Google services (contacts, calendar)
  • No Microsoft Exchange support
  • Can't sync with PC or Mac
  • Overall, interface inferior (no two-finger zoom magic)
  • No onscreen keyboard, so have to use bulky external keyboard.
  • Weak music player, no video player
  • T-Mobile network coverage sucks.

See Also: G1 Phone Nice But Hardly Disruptive

 

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

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