T-Mobile officially launches the G1; not everyone cares
Android is upon us! The HTC G1 is now officially available in T-Mobile stores across the country. We already know that tons of internet pre-orders have been filled early but today is the day that you can walk into your local T-Mobile store and snag one right off the shelf (well, actually it became available last night in some locations). So how is the release being received? Are hoards of eager soon-to-be Android junkies lining up to get their G1 on? Yes and no, it would seem. There is definitely quite a bit of fanfare in certain areas. The image above for example, shows a line of about 150 people outside of a San Francisco store waiting eagerly to purchase the world’s first Android offering courtesy of HTC. There’s even a guy on stilts, umm, entertaining them. The Market Street store in San Fran was actually the first location to make the G1 available and it celebrated by handing out “I was the first to get it” t-shirts, a free 4 GB memory card for the first 100 G1 buyers and a raffle where the winner got $1,000 and a free G1. Woo hoo!
Unfortunately, not all locations saw the hoopla Market Street enjoyed. Sure, there are a few modest groups convening at various locations but we have plenty of emails and comments detailing a much different scene at tons of T-Mobile locations. Many describe empty stores and even an employee sitting “with his feet literally up on a desk.” Ouch. News that pre-order sales were not quite as fantastic as many had initially thought emerged last week and a generally lukewarm reception nation-wide might be an indicator that customer anticipation isn’t quite what it was hoped to be. Then again, HTC and T-Mobile aren’t the hype machine Apple is, so we would expect a more gradual sales curve compared to the mobs resulting from the iPhone 3G launch. Whatever the case, if you’ve been jonesing for an Android fix but wanted to check the G1 out in person as opposed to pre-ordering one online, get off your couch and head down to your local T-Mobile store. It sounds like they could use the company. If you want to know a bit more about the Market Street shindig, hit the read link.
There were six or seven people at the T-Mobile store I went to, but definitely not a line of people
I got mine yesterday…one word…WOW…I love it!!! Of course I live in LA so 3g is super strong and super fast. Anyone worried about getting one, shouldn’t. This coming from a FORMER iphone customer. Right now I am copying all my music into my phone, like it should be drag and drop. All the features work great. If you need BGR to make your decision on what phone is hot and what is not, then go buy a RIM job or an iphone. My iphone buddies are hating because I moved to the dark side, but if this is the dark side then fuck OB1 and the green monkey on his back LOL!!!
I don’t think anyone expected the g1 to have lines like the iphone did. The phone looks better in person. The web browser is good as the iphone. Both my iphone and g1 connected to a wifi signal and the g1 loaded faster haha hold that iphone abusers(that’s me). I prefer the g1 browser. Copy and paste. Idc how. Great the iphone is..copy and paste is needed. Now all I need is my bold and ill be commplete for 3 months.
I just found that out. I called my local store and they said none of our local stores were going to carry it. I wasn’t pleased. I guess it’s off to the online store to order for me.
Got mine yesterday. It does feel a little bulky and plastic. Removing the back to put in the battery all I kept thinking was “wow, it really flimsily plastic!” And what’s with this child’s house slipper they sent as a case? Can I make it any bulkier in my pocket? The zip lock baggie it comes in is more usable. I have to drag out the keyboard every single time I want to enter anything?…UGH! The 3G speeds I’ve been getting are quite amazing…but I’m paranoid about a cap on my data usage. 16gb SDHC cards will work in it I am told…and you’ll be able to find plenty of them about the same time Apple gets a 32gb IPhone ready for market. So far I can’t find much useful to do with it without my e-mail. The lack of exchange support is inexcusable (no I can’t use your “other” solution). The lack of video playback or record is unforgivable. The missing headphone jack is unbelievable. I know, it’s HTC’s fault, but if I had been a T-mobile exec in that meeting I would have made it a deal breaker. And why I cant shoot a photo and bluetooth it to a printer or my laptop? Battery life is the worst I’ve ever seen. Sure, the guide gives tips on how to extend battery life, but it basically means turning of many of the nice features (bluetooth, GPS, 3G, power…). The apps available in the “market” are toys. While fun, I see little right now I find useful. Open source will fix that? Yea, like it did on my Nokia N800.I’m still waiting on a decent address book for that beast. So don’t hold your breath. I think it’s a great phone for children or the unemployed…nice step up from your Sidekicks and/or get you hooked on 3G speeds for simple web browsing…but otherwise useless. Software updates may smooth some things over, but I’ll bet we see a G2 or something better android for some one else very soon to make up for the shortcoming here. Mine is going back on Friday.
Every time I think perhaps there aren’t as many total douche-bags in the world, all I have to do to remind myself is come to BGR. Most biased news ever. Gee, I wonder if the fact that T-Mo had a pre-sale has anything to do with shorter lines? They sold over 100,000 before the phone even launched, and now face a massive shortage of devices at launch. But yeah, its a disappointing launch. right… Flame away at me, I’m officially done with this site.
Kevo,
Your only complaint about the hardware is that it doesn’t have an on-screen keyboard.
Wouldn’t an on-screen keyboard be software? I can guarantee someone will make a virtual keyboard for it.
The reason at&t had long lines is they did everything in their and Apple’s power to create the “frenzy”.
T-Mobile will hardly ever have long lines. Concierge style customer service that’s fast and accurate are a T-Mobile trademark. Making the device available online allows users to avoid long lines. Its the benefit of e-commerce Apple and at&t needlessly avoided for press and videos of long lines. Those lines just show how bad at&t is at selling phones and serving customers. When you can order online, why wait in line?
don’t hate because T-Mobile isn’t saddled with “activation issues” (just pop in the SIM, just like…any other GSM set), long lines (just order online, even preorder if you’re a previous customer), or iTunes desktop software dependency (smartphones should never require a desktop PC anyway). T-Mobile obviously had a better planned, organized, smoother launch because of astute planning and thinking of the customers first. Good move!
A show of force and loyalty by Google employees.
Well, actually, I’m a hardcore Nokia Nseries loyalists, and just looking as an analyst. No Google employees here. I know BoyGeniusReport is almost an iPhone fan site, but there are plenty of us that need more than the iPhone provides. Most iPhone users admit, for them, “less is more”, or they “only want x feature and simple performance, not power and every feature under the book”. For others, the G1 finally provides a full featured option on a better run network. Nothing surprising there. I never hear claims of “Apple employees” when BGR panders to their favorite device. To each his own…
If my G1 is suppose to arrive on November 10, what day would I be able to start checking on the UPS website for my shipping day?
And what dates do I put in where it asks for the the two dates on the Track by reference page.
Please don’t hate on BGR. They just report the news. No doubt, Apple did everything possible to create long lines while T-Mobile treated its existing customers right. But what the hell the iphone has its merits.
For those who disagree, come chat with the guy on stilts. He will beat your ass.
I wanna get it but im broke. Me liek a lot of people barely leave our cities so coverage isn’t much of a problem at all
@ Pythagoras, I agree. But the condescending, mocking, and dismissive nature of the comments called “news” on this site attract disrespected consumers, and probably just give BGR what it deserves. A certain amount of responsibility and objectivity should be undertaken when reporting “news”.
The title of this article implies the opposite of the obvious truth. I think BGR’s writer’s are extreme Apple fanboys, and only said it in gest, but it reduces the credibility of this site. The iPhone is in the same class as the Samsung Instinct, only it has native installable apps. Its still a non multitasking featurephone. Some people need just that. Others need more. Don’t hate on the needy.
I think my N95-2 puts all devices to shame, but the more choices, the better. Go Android! Go Symbian! Go (to hell) iPhone! (Just joking.) What’s good for mobiles is good for us all.
@ Pythagoras, I agree. But the condescending, mocking, and dismissive nature of the comments called “news” on this site attract disrespected consumers, and probably just give BGR what it deserves. A certain amount of responsibility and objectivity should be undertaken when reporting “news”.
The title of this article implies the opposite of the obvious truth. I think BGR’s writer’s are extreme Apple fanboys, and only said it in gest, but it reduces the credibility of this site. The iPhone is in the same class as the Samsung Instinct, only it has native installable apps. Its still a non multitasking featurephone. Some people need just that. Others need more. Don’t hate on the needy.
I think my N95-2 puts all devices to shame, but the more choices, the better. Go Android! Go Symbian! Go (to hell) iPhone! (Just joking.) What’s good for mobiles is good for us all. The iPhone has its merits. Maybe someone should remind BGR that Android and the G1 do too.
I’ve seen the commercials on TV already and people using in real life before it was even sent out. As a first skeptic the phone works pretty well and the interface is very intuitive/responsive. It is still an early bird and needs time to catch up but like I always say, it’s the teen/20 somethings market who will eat this up simply because they are the ones mostly on t-mobile and this is their new Sidekick. So far all the people I’ve seen with these phones are the same ones I saw with the sidekick pre-launch. It’s the coolest qwerty phone on T-Mobile so they’ll clamor around it. The hype factor I think is because most of the people who really wanted it already pre-ordered it and unlike the iphone there are no dedicated G00GLE or HTC stores selling it where there would be a lot of fanfare and hype/coverage. In time the sales will increase significantly but the lack of T-Mobile’s 3G in most areas is one of the main reasons for this as well.
G1 first impressions:
Way better than I expected from the previews/reviews. Hardware felt solid, keyboard great. User interface not a good as iphone but still great. Its fast, responsive, easy to use. Browser is the best (after the iphone) speakerphone is LOUD. Negatives: Too many (not yet)’s. No video recording (yet), no soft keyboard (yet), no doc edit (yet). Biggest negative is T-mobile’s limited coverage footprint. This may cause me to return. Overall, WAY better device than iphone. In a year, on other networks, Android devices will outshine iphone in almost every way. But a year is a long time….
Answer this question what is better a 3G network that has not been deployed everywhere yet, or a AT&T 3G network that just plain doesn’t work? I have had the device for 2 weeks. Yes 2 weeks have 8 apps installed on it with no errors no dropped calls 3G all of the time. So Apple FanBoys when are you getting you rebate for a AT&T 3G network that didn’t work at both launches 2G and 3G? By the way how mqany software updates have there been to fix issues with the I-phone sine launch?
you can have mine.
you need to back off the cool aid.
Ben,
Yes the lack of an on-screen keyboard is one of my problems with the G1, and I just read today that the devs are expected to release some type of on-screen keyboard shortly. Dev community to the rescue once!! We’ll see where this all goes I suppose.
Okay there are a ton more TMO stores than ATT or VZW not to mention only about 1 in 10 ATT stores carried the iPhone whilst every TMO store (at least here in NYC) got about a 100 each. So, do the math, and you’ll see that some stores like the one pictured will be busy as hell whilst others will be more empty. I’m a direct dealer and my store had only 20 activations for the day but a hell lot of upgrades (MOST WERE PARTIAL DISCOUNTS AND PEOPLE PAID 368 FOR THE PHONE W/O A PROBLEM) and my friend’s Ameritel indirect in time square opened at 12:01 a.m. and he had 22 activations within the first 2.5 hours…