T-Mobile G1 Release keynote meta-liveblog!
Ok, we’re here and set up monitoring the hotspots of tech on the net, getting ready to bring you all the big news as it comes in from New York City. We’ll be getting started soon!
And it’s over. Click below to read all the fun that happened!
(10:05am): Ok, we’re all set up here, Looks like all the big players are hanging out and getting ready to go in.
(10:08am): Looks like everyone’s making their way in. This shindig might just get started on time!
(10:10am): Ha! They’re playing John Mayer. Boy they really want that Apple vibe don’t they? Bets on whether or not the presenter wears a black mock turtleneck?
(10:12am): Apparently Engadget got their hands on one. Looks slightly better in person:
(10:16am): They’ve handed them out in White and Brown also. I guess they want to capture that elusive Zune vibe too?
(10:19am): Engadget reports that all apps will be free to download for 90 days after you purchase the device, no word yet on percentage of free vs. paid apps.
(10:20am): Keynote will start in 10 minutes. Apparently the smooth jazz over the speakers is making the attendants feel skeevy.
(10:25am): The video stream is up, I’m acquiring the link now. Pretty big crowd there today:
(10:28am): Heres the link to the video stream: http://announcement.t-mobileg1.com/
(10:30am): Ok, here we go!
(10:32am): CTO of Tmob is out. “Thank you for celebrating with us today.”
(10:33am): ”Today we are launching the first Android based phone the T-Mobile G1″
(10:33am): Hm, simultaneous launch in US and Europe
(10:35am): “Moving away from walled gardens and closed portals… We do think that mobile internet is the dominant trend of our industry.”
(10:36am): Andy Rubin takes the stage. ”We’re bringing Google advancements to the mobile phone.”
(10:38am): An HTC exec is on stage. Too much business speak.
(10:39am): They just called it iconic!? That’s an “iconic” design?! More like “we ran out of ideas.”
(10:43am): Demo video up now.. Not terrible looking.
(10:44am): That’s it? meh.
(10:45am): Ok, he’s back again talking to the reporters. Telling them to try the device now. How about some release info yo?
(10:46am): Video showing off the interface now. Looks kinda choppy to be honest.
(10:47am): Ooh, they’re talking about multitasking. Take THAT Apple!
(10:48am): Street view with compass mode. So that.. you know.. you can see where you are… even though you can already see… where.. you… are.. oh.
(10:49am): The idea for long presses acting like a right click is a pretty decent idea.
(10:50am): Showing off the Android Market. Ratings included on the phone. Pretty nice!
(10:52am): Video about the open source nature of the device playing now.
(10:53am): ”No one’s gonna say you can’t do that.” They’re really going after Apple on this.
(10:54am): All these devs look like college students. Going after the hacker set I guess.
(10:56am): Comparative Pricing app by scanning barcodes with the phone’s camera. Neat.
(10:56am): Pricing is $179!!! Existing T-Mobile customers can order today. commercial launch is October 22nd.
(10:58am): Data Plans are decent. Two data / messaging plans: $25 with unlimited data and some messaging, $35 with unlimited data and messaging.
(11:00am): Platform goes open source at launch in October. Focused roadmap for two years with more features and functionality.
(11:01am): The phone can’t be used as a tethered modem, though I don’t see why someone couldn’t write the app anyway. Can read Word, PDF, Excel. No exchange, sorry business users. The phone will be sim-locked to T-Mobile.
(11:02am): No desktop app. Will be available outside of 3g regions with warnings. Will work on WiFi.
(11:04am): They are seriously going to be enforcing the sim-lock.
(11:04am): Will be pushed with the biggest marketing campaign in T-Mobile History! No stereo bluetooth.
(11:05am): Browser is (obviously) webkit based. Kind of a “chrome lite”
(11:07am): Focused as a consumer device, not as much for business ( with the lack of BES or Exchange, I don’t blame them.)
(11:08am): No iTunes obviously. No Skype. Hmm…
(11:10am): Larry and Sergey Take the Stage!
(11:11am): He keeps calling it the App Store. You can bet the execs are pissed about that one.
(11:14am): Basically talked about how much they like the device (duh.) Looks like they even like writing their own apps for it. That’s cute. These photo-ops in the middle of the keynote are really annoying.
(11:15am): And that’s all folks. Everyone’s going downstairs for some hands on goodness. Impressions to follow later today.