General: T-Mobile Showcases Google Android and 3G Router

Yesterday T-Mobile organised a product showcase, giving Journalists an opportunity to check out all the phones that T-Mobile are partnered with as well as their mobile broadband packages.

Naturally, most people were crowded round the G1 phone being passed around like some technological joint. Whilst this was happening I checked out a new product T-Mobile will be offering.

The picture itself is fairly explanatory, but allows you to share out your Mobile Broadband over wireless or even across your wired network thanks to the included RJ45 port. This is incredibly useful if you set up mobile offices or live a nomadic life style, as many of us increasingly do. I see this product as a sign of the times. I wouldn't be surprised if before long many people will be like me – no longer having a BT land line and dedicated internet connection, but rather rely on wireless and 3G connections. Many providers are offering 15GB of bandwidth, which unless you're a heavy downloader is more than enough for every day use. The dock itself won't be available by separately, unless you are an existing T-Mobile customer, but with their broadband packages you are paying an extra £5 a month for the dock. At £60 over the year, that's not far off what you would pay for a decent wireless router. I look forward to taking a closer look at this in the future.

After a short wait, I was able to get some hands on time with the G1 and I must admit, I was quite impressed. The photography on the web makes the device look a lot worse than it actually is. Don't get my wrong – I think it looks shoddy in white, but the black version actually looked pretty stylish, with most photography not doing it justice. It is by far the closest competitor to the iPhone I've used in terms of interface, although it's not quite as intuitive.

Once you realise that the menu and the back buttons are the most commonly used, you're well on your way. As well as the touch screen, you have a keyboard that flips out on a rather nifty hinge and a tiny tracker ball. I personally don't see the point in the scroll wheel, but talking to some people they suggested they don't get on with touch screens. The roller is small enough that you won't mind it being there and you're not forced to use it.

The screen quality is pretty good, but scrolling web pages or moving around Google Maps wasn't quite as smooth as the iPhone. The OS itself was good, with a virtual “desktop” with your favourite icons as a home, and then a menu with all your applications much like every other phone. The Google search widget on the desktop was nice, especially as it suggested results as you were typing in (much like Chrome does), but I was disappointed not to see decent integration with Google Apps (Calendar for example) – you still have to load a web browser to get to these. I imagine that I either missed something here or we're only a plugin away from this eventuality. The “Market” is where you go to install your plugins and at the moment it's a little sparse – not surprising really at this stage.

The consensus on the internet is that Android is a decent OS with great potential but that the G1 is a poor phone. Without a doubt, the balance is in that direction, but I wouldn't consider it to be a poor phone – but then phones are very personal things. Having just about started to get used to the feather light touch required for the iPhone, the tactile keyboard seemed to take a lot of effort to click the keys and it because of it's recessed nature (unlike the Blackberry for example) it was a little tricky to pick up any speed. I imagine like every device – there is a learning curve to get over.

I feel I need more time alone with the device, but my opinion would to not be so quick as to dismiss the G1 if you're adamant you need to buy a phone right now. Waiting for the next Android based advice would be my long term opinion I await my review sample, ready for my new Channel Flip show...