Via dezeen, this G1 phone is based on Google's Android. It is manufactured by HTC and will be available through T-Mobile. Looks pretty nice and clean a design. Except.

Fold out keyboard. Ouch. The iPhone has the in-screen keyboard, so it has a nicer design, and doesn't require the complex mechanicals of a fold-out keyboard. For Android giving designers greater latitude and commoditizing the phone this one doesn't pass. It is just a phone that is not up to par with the iPhone.

The RKS Phone is a better design that uses the Android software.
Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.

Comments
  • I have a build of Android running on my Vogue HTC. Since the Vogue has no keyboard, it uses an on-screen one. Often, I wish the Vogue had a fold-out like my old Apache or the new G1. The Android keyboard on-screen is nicer than the Windows Mobile SIP that came with the phone. It has a nice haptic vibe feedback that MS seems to avoid. I wonder if that same keyboard could run on the G1/HTC Dream? I don't see any reason it couldn't.

    When I look at the G1, the design issue I see isn't the inclusion of a real keyboard, but rather the ugly "chin" protruding from the right/bottom of the device. That and the red one burns my eyes.