As ReadWriteWeb noted when G1 was released in September, the default browser isn't Google's Chrome - but Web-Kit, which is "Chrome-like". However Sergey Brin confirmed in early September that Chrome will be coming to Android in subsequent versions.

See last100's full post for more details of the current browser in G1.

Ecorio is a carbon footprint calculator developed by five guys from Ontario, and one of the ten apps awarded $275,000 by the recent Android Developer Challenge.

Once you've downloaded the application, Ecorio runs in the background and keeps track of your trips using G1's GPS navigation feature. Once your carbon footprint has been established, Ecorio lets you take action by offering three features: Reduce, Inspire, Offset - the 'rio' half of the product name.

Reduce

To help you reduce your carbon footprint, the app suggests carpooling options via Zimride, a ride sharing service in North America, of if you prefer public transit, Ecorio recommends the best routes using Google Transit.

Inspire

The folks over at Ecorio have also created a social networking feature that allows you to interact and chat with other Ecorio community members as well as view their profiles and see what their carbon footprint looks like; inspire others, let them inspire you.

Offset

The offset feature shows you what your carbon footprint means in context. For instance, Ecorio can show you by how many pounds you could reduce your carbon footprint if you choose to take transit for half the time, and then shows you how much you would save on gas in dollar value. Ecorio also offers you the opportunity to purchase offsets from Carbonfund, a non profit organization that supports renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation, directly from your phone.

While Ecorio is currently only available for the G1, the team is hard at work getting Ecorio ready to work across other mobile devices. Stay tuned.

Take a look at the video below to see Ecorio in action, when one of its founders, Jeff Kao talks with Phandroid's Rob Jackson. But be warned, unfortunately the audio is not great due to the crowd and background noise.

If you're a service like Web-based IM leader Meebo, you build an app to enhance the functionality of the Web-based service. And that's exactly what they've done with Meebo for Android.

Even more importantly, Android allows Meebo to deliver an application that can't live on the iPhone platform today. Why? Because of the iPhone's inability to run multiple applications simultaneously. "Running another iPhone application in the background" is a foreign concept - unless you're the owner of a jailbroken phone.

While glimpses of the Meebo app have been available for months, today marks the first opportunity for G1 users to download the app to their handset from the Android Market.

Meebo - which boasts traffic of more than 5 billion messages per month - continues to advance their service. This mobile offering marks another step forward in their continuing efforts to make the service more accessible to more people. The Android release follows closely on the heels of their Community IM partnership announcement which promises exponential growth in the number of Meebo users over the coming months.

And while the Android app might not increase the user base as drastically as Community IM, it's still a significant step in taking advantage of Android features that its closest competitor currently lacks.

These days, a number of developers seem to be building mobile apps simply because they can. Meebo for Android, however, avoids the pitfall of simply "reiterating existing services" by taking a step forward in augmenting Meebo's functionality using the Android platform.

Apache License

The Apache License allows developers to distribute and modify the source code in any way they want, and developers are not required to distribute the new code under the same license. The new license does not even have to be an open-source license, which will give companies the option to develop their own, proprietary platforms on the basis of Android.

iPhone and Android Compete for Developers

It will be interesting to see where developers will take the Android platform now that they have full access to it. We have already seen the release of quite a few very interesting programs for Android in anticipation of the G1 launch.

This announcement also sets Google apart from Apple, which is trying to keep complete control over its iPhone platform. While most users probably don't care about the politics behind the scenes, the Android platform might siphon off quite a few developers from the iPhone - especially given Apple's erratic behavior around including applications in the iTunes store lately.

The makers of the "Google phone" - and the developers who hope to build apps for it - have had the opportunity to watch Apple over the past year, learning from their mistakes - and their successes. One of those lessons learned? People want apps. Let's take a look at three of the first Android apps out of the gates.

One of the leading streaming music services and a frequent subject of ours, imeem, plans to "make Android sing" with its streaming social music app that delivers the power of imeem's user recommendations to the mobile platform. According to imeem, the app will have seamless integration between the mobile app and the imeem site.

Not to be outdone on the social front, MySpace has announced the MySpace Mobile App for Android which promises to bring a number of the site's features to the mobile platform, including providing status updates, uploading photos, and approving friends.

App store drama rears its head

Getting apps to users right of the gates was clearly motivated by the hindsight of Apple's reticence to do so. The Android team definitely made the right decision in that regard.

One of the mistakes that the G1 appears doomed to repeat, however, is the management of those applications in the Android Market, the distribution hub for Android applications.

Android Community reveals that the more than 50 apps which could appear in the Market have been whittled down to 13 lucky applications. According to Android Community, "many of the top applications that have been reviewed already will not be there."

Will this initial selection result in the same turmoil it has for Apple? Or was this simply a means of staging the rollout of apps? The answer to that question remains to be seen.

Surely more to come

While we're getting down to the wire, there's still a lot of time before the G1 comes out on Wednesday. No doubt, this is just the beginning of the information we'll be seeing on new Android apps. Stay tuned to ReadWriteWeb for the latest news as it becomes available.

MySpace Mobile image courtesy Android Community

The G1 is set to take the world by storm at the end of this month. It may also take Apple's iPhone down a notch or two. Early adopters and those left out of the loop with the release of the iPhone 3G are making their way to the G1. Just days after going on pre-sale the G1 sold out fast, which sent T-Mobile scrambling to place more orders. T-Mobile tripled their original number of orders to HTC for G1 devices. Since then, all of those orders have been pre-sold. The amount of units pre-sold is reported to be around 1.5 million! That figure doesn't even include the number of pre-sale orders placed in T-mobile retail stores. It is being reported that about 1 million units have been pre-ordered from T-Mobile retail stores.

Is the G1 Set to Overthrow the iPhone?

At the moment, we don't think so. However, we're excited about all that Android will offer on the G1. T-Mobile is off to a great start with the number of G1 units pre-sold. Anticipation for both the device and the Android OS is higher than initial reactions led us to believe. It will be up to the performance of Google's Android mobile OS from this point forward to determine whether it's a worthy competitor to the iPhone. Be sure to cast your prediction on Google's Android versus Apple's iPhone and check out our top 10 picks of Android apps that we can't wait to use.

Features Demoed In The Promo Video:

• Touchscreen - You can swipe across the screen, use a long press to access more features, drag-and-drop
• Music - one-click ordering from Amazon confirmed
• Music player is built in - one long press lets you access more features, like song options
• Gtalk IM included
• Address book can take you right into Google Maps
• Google Maps: Directions/Traffic View/Street View; can do panning in Street View thanks to the touch screen
• In "Compass Mode" the scene moves as you do
• In the web browser, there are onscreen controls to zoom in
• You can open multiple web pages in Google's browser
• There's a search button on keyboard
• A long press lets you share a link (URL) from within the web browser
• For apps, there's the Android Market, complete with user ratings and OTA downloads
• Pacman!

Q&A From The Press

Q: Status of T-Mobile's 3G network?
A: Will be in 22 markets by commercial launch data (October 22nd) and by mid-November it will be in 27 markets

Q: Will the phone be available in Europe?
A: There are 30 million U.S. customers and 100 million customers in the European market, so yes, it will come to Europe. It will be in the UK in early November and will be across Europe by 1st Quarter, 2009

Q: Can you use the phone as tethered modem?
A: NO

Q: Can you buy just a data plan only?
A: NO

Q: Can you view office documents?
A: You can read Word, PDF, and Excel docs

Q: Will it work with Microsoft Exchange?
A: There is no Exchange compatibility, but this is an excellent opportunity for a 3rd party developer.

Q: Can the phone be unlocked and used on other networks?
A: No, the phone is SIM-locked

Q: Is email push?
A: Gmail is push/IMAP supported

Q: Will there be a desktop app?
A: NO

Q: Does the phone work over Wi-Fi?
A: Yes

Q: What's the marketing plan?
A: Google and T-Mobile are working together to produce both TV and in-channel marketing which will debut in October. It will be the biggest campaign ever for a mobile device.

Q: Is the browser Chrome?
A: No, it is Web-Kit, which is "Chrome-like"

Q: Who's the target demographic?
A: The phone has mass appeal, there's something for everyone, but it's more of a consumer device.

Q: Will it work with iTunes?
A: It supports standard music formats like AAC, WMA, MP3, but not anything wrapped in DRM.

Pricing and Availability

The phone is less expensive than the iPhone! It's only $179.

Existing T-Mobile customers can order online on a micro-site and have shipped to their homes. October 22nd is the commercial launch date when it will be available in stores. There will be 2 plans. One is $25 for unlimited web and some messaging; the other is $35 for unlimited web and unlimited messaging. (In addition to whatever voice plan is selected).

The Open Platform

From the Google blog post about Android, we learn that there's now a new version of the SDK: Android 1.0 SDK R1. With this SDK, Android developers can tap into the hardware and software capabilities of the device, allowing them the ability to "develop more freely," Google says. This is just the opposite of what Apple allows with iPhone, a device so locked down there's not even a copy-and-paste function.

Developers will be able to distribute their apps through the Android Store, a place that will deliver the apps over-the-air to the handset, but where developers won't face the same kind of restrictions as they do with Apple. There won't be Android apps being blocked, pulled, or killed, from what it sounds like. And thanks to the Android Developer Challenge, there are already more than 1,700 applications available for the phone as of now.

Today's launch of Android on T-Mobile is only the beginning. By the end of the year, the Open Handset Alliance will open source the entire Android platform, which will allow Android to run on any wireless carrier or handset.

Note: Stay tuned. We'll update this post with some more video and images shortly.

See more Android images in the slideshow below:

New Android Videos:

Promo Video:

]]> Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_phone_unveiled_can_it_beat_iphone.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_phone_unveiled_can_it_beat_iphone.php Product Reviews Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:20:28 -0800 Sarah Perez The tech and mobile industries are buzzing about the impending release of the first Google Android handset. We've been waiting since February to find out whether an official Android handset will see the light of day. But after numerous setbacks, a device that will carry Android is finally here. Better known as the HTC Dream or G1, the device is set to be available on the T-Mobile network as early as next week, priced at $199.

We'd like your help in predicting the following: Will T-mobile or AT&T adjust their entry price point (either up or down) for the HTC Dream and the iPhone respectively in 2008? Let us know by casting your vote at RWW Predictions.

• The $199 price point for both phones is only available with a contract
• Android is the first complete, open, and free mobile platform.
• HTC targets 600000 Dream handset sales this year
• Analysts predict Apple will sell 13 million iPhone units in 2008
• Google Chrome browser is confirmed to come to Android

Check out a video of the Android OS just below and be sure to read up on our top 10 picks of Android apps we hope to use.