Google's Devil Phone Reaches for Heaven
News Commentary. Message to myself: Never doubt Clint Boulton. My eWEEK colleague was right about T-Mobile G1 sales. They're already big. |
Or so it would seem following reports that T-Mobile has sold out preorders of 1.5 million units. Whoa.
In September, Clint predicted: "I think the Dream will ship nearly 1 million units by 2009, or roughly as many units as the iPhone shipped in almost the same amount of time." A week later, Clint reviled in the "bitter taste of crow," after handling the phone and taking rebuff from eWEEK readers and me. I had scoffed at 1 million units.
But who's eating crow now? We all should have had more faith in Clint, assuming of course T-Mobile really has sold out 1.5 million G1 preorders. That's a helluva response. For the first iPhone, Apple took nearly 75 days to sell 1 million units, three days for the 3G model. These G1 orders are for a device unseen. It's not like T-Mobile has display models in stores yet. G1 preorderers are buying on faith.
Last month, I used God and the Devil to describe the iPhone and G1, respectively. Because of its popularity, the iPhone has picked up nicknames "God phone" or "Jesus phone." So, Devil phone seemed like the appropriate moniker for the G1, or Google phone. Well, the Devil is coming and—in the too-often quoted line from John Milton's "Paradise Lost"—'Tis "better to reign in hell, than serve in heav'n."
It would be unfair to call T-Mobile Hell, but its 3G network is new and available in just a few markets compared with AT&T's more expansive network. Scant 3G coverage might seem more like Hell than Heaven for many users. Then there is that mysterious 1GB monthly soft cap on data usage. Officially, T-Mobile has backed away from the cap. But a rep at my local T-Mobile store claims the cap is still coming, so as to avoid the kind of network problems AT&T had following iPhone 3G's launch.
As for Heaven—eh, AT&T—plenty of subscribers are still raising holy hell about dropped calls. Increasingly, I'm wondering how much the device, rather than the network, is to blame. Early last month, I traded my iPhone 3G, which I purchased on July 11, for some friend's tech gear. My wife insisted on returning her iPhone 3G within the 30-day refund period. We both had loads of telephony problems, mainly frequently dropped calls. Initially, I thought my daughter had similar problems. Not so. She used the original firmware until Oct. 15, when I insisted she upgrade to 2.1. Few dropped calls before and after.
A week ago, I was ready to buy the Devil phone. But after speaking with T-Mobile customer service and going to the local retail store, I got bad news: As a new customer, I likely couldn't buy G1 on its Oct. 22 launch or anytime soon afterward. Nor was the $179 pricing offered to existing customers guaranteed for newcomers like me. Huh? Surely T-Mobile would want to switch customers from other services. On reconsideration, though, I decided that maybe T-Mobile would rather give good G3 to existing customers rather than add to the network burden with outsiders.
So, with no G1 in my immediate future, data device withdrawal driving me nuts and the realization that my daughter wasn't having problems with dropped calls, I gave up my devilish plans. On Oct. 16, I got another iPhone 3G from the local AT&T store. Yeah. Yeah. Beat me aside the head. I'm God phone loving again. Praise the Lord, eh, Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
In three days of using the phone, one call dropped. Today. Number of bars, usually three, is about the same as my daughter's iPhone 3G. She had one dropped call about three weeks ago. I would have bought a G1, if there had been hope in waiting. The physical keyboard, removable battery and single sign-on to Google services appealed to me. Should I have waited for the Devil instead of repenting and returning to the God phone? Please answer in comments or by e-mail.
The G1 product reviews are coming, and they may be their own answer. On Friday, MobileDevicesToday's Michael Gartenberg tweeted: "T-Mobile G1 with Google in the house. Full review next week. Any questions about the device? let me know." Lucky SOB. I'll be reading Michael's review and others for guidance. Surely, he wouldn't offer bad advice. Wasn't one of the unfallen archangels named Michael? I'm waiting for him to tweet "Nearer My God Phone to Thee."
[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at live.com.]
Related Posts:
- Has Apple Sold 10 Million iPhones?, Apple Watch, Oct. 6, 2008
- God Phone Meets the Devil, Apple Watch, Sept. 23, 2008
- Apple's Arrogant App Store Developer Policies, Apple Watch, Sept. 14, 2008
- iPhone Storms Smart-Phone OS Market, Apple Watch, Sept. 11, 2008
- How Shiny Is Google Chrome?, Apple Watch, Sept. 2, 2008
- Chrome: The Google OS, Microsoft Watch, Sept. 2, 2008
- Does Android Dream of iPhone?, Apple Watch, Aug. 28, 2008
- iPhone 3G: Software + Hardware + Services, Apple Watch, July 22, 2008
- Windows 95, Only Better, Apple Watch, July 14, 2008
- Is This Any Way to Launch a Platform?, Apple Watch, July 14, 2008
- Android, 'Can You Hear Me Now?', Microsoft Watch, Nov. 27, 2007
- Android: What You Are to Google?, Microsoft Watch, Nov. 5, 2007
- Google Brings Mobile Software to Life as Android, Google Watch, Nov. 5, 2007
Comments (2)
I see a lot of G1's being returned by dis-satisfied customers. Casual users are most likely to stick with it. But for those who care about Aesthetics, Integration and Microsoft Exchange, this is not the phone for you. The G1 has a lot of ways to go, especially where it concerns overcoming the iPhones wide acceptance and development clout. The iPhone and other mobile devices are far ahead.
I sent you story about 60 million iPhones purchased by America Movil to be sold and given away throughout its network. With figures like that, how can the G1 really compete? We are talking about a phone with world wide notoriety. People want an iPhone, yes the Google brand will help the G1, but how far? This is a new product, the CNET first impressions have been lack luster. Since Macworld 2007, early impressions have called the iPhone a runaway hit.
Its continued acceptance and the fact that competitors have also pumped up their own lines, Storm, Diamond, show that its a tough battle ahead for Google and T-Mobile.
Posted by Andre Da Costa | October 12, 2008 9:49 PM
@Andre: I would not be all that optimistic about iPhone worldwide acceptance. For example, Apple has just started to officially sell the phone in Russia and it's a complete disaster with 400K people already owning an illegal device. And still Apple thought people would pay over $1K for it. I think the worldwide acceptance must also be about pricing - and if Google works with the right manufacturers (like Nokia that does not set ridiculous prices only to focus on luxury of the devices it sells), it could very much win on the pricing field.
Posted by Svetlana Gladkova | October 13, 2008 1:36 AM