Whenever I think of Android, I always go back to my childhood memories of Lt. Commander Data, the first positronic Android to serve in StarFleet. 

But in this generation and reality, we have the T-Mobile G1 powered by the Google Android software. I was hard pressed to choose between the AT&T iPhone or the T-Mobile G1, but in the end, the solution was clear–I couldn’t be a part of the generation fruit and go with the all to friendly Apple iPhone, the inner geek in me would never forgive himself!
So I had to see what all the hype was with the phone, and to start with, I initially thought that I wouldn’t be able to use my G1 with my Google Apps account. See here’s the skinny, when you first sign up with T-mobile and decide to get a G1, you have to activate the phone with either an existing Gmail account or create a new one. The representative at the T-mobile store didn’t know if you could use a Google App account or if it had to be a Gmail (@gmail.com) account. Fortunately for me, once the SIM card was activated with the data services, I was able to sign into my @thekochfolks.com email address that is through Google Apps. BEAUTIFUL! 
Now I have my personal email at my fingertips, and it’s fully integrated with everything the phone does. For instance, my calendar and contacts all get dynamically synced both ways between the G1 and Google Apps. So needless to say, once the phone got activated and started to sync, BOOM all my contacts were on the phone. Easy easy. Next, I had to see for myself what the deal was with the Android Market. Now we’ve all been lead to believe that the iPhone store was the greatest thing since sliced bread when it came to user’s and developers creating applications to do cool things. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by this, and just browsing online, it seems like there are only a handful of apps available–WRONG! Once I got the phone online, the Android Market is chock full of applications! For starters, I had to go with the following lineup:
  • ShopSavvy – This one allows you to photo a bar code and the software scans retailers in the area for prices to see if you are getting the best deal. I haven’t had a chance to use this one, so I’ll update once I do!
  • FBook – Awesome, awesome, just another way to keep your status updated on Facebook.
  • imeem – Similar to Pandora where you can search and play songs by artist name or song title. 
  • Brain Genius Deluxe – This one is just a fun game that suppose to improve your memory and concentration through daily activities. We’ll see how this goes as I’m only on day 2!
  • BistroMath – Quick and easy tip calculator. Allows you to total out based on taxes, or total and add in tip percentage. You can split the bill amongst X number of people. 
  • Movies – Checks movies that are playing in your area. 
  • WikiMobile – Who doesn’t need wikipedia at your beck and call!
  • iSkoot – Skype on your phone!
  • The Weather Channel – Weather from your trusted source.
  • ConnectBot – SSH client from G1. I can fully manage my Linux box from my phone!!!! AWESOME!
  • ToggleWiFi – Simple app that turns on and off wifi. Save your power when you don’t need wifi, but get it quickly turned on when you do!
  • ToggleBlu – Similar in concept to ToggleWifi, just turning on and off Bluetooth quickly.
Aside from the question on whether or not you can use your Google Apps account with your G1, there were a few other questions that I’ve had come up. One, can you change the clock on the main screen, so far the answer I’ve found is no you can’t (not at the moment at least). Second, how do you delete a bookmark from the Browser, you can do that by long clicking on the bookmark and you’ll see a new menu come up that you can then do a delete from. Clicking on the Menu won’t pull up the same list of options. 
Also your G1 can hook up to your computer and act as a removable storage device, similar to an iPod, you just have to go into your notifications and select the option to mount the drive once it’s connected via USB. 
The keyboard takes a bit of getting use to, having come from a BlackBerry 8830 to the G1, I actually think the keyboard is more functional as you don’t have to click special characters for the numbers, but it still takes some getting use to. 
Also I’ve noticed that the power management is something you have to work out based on what you are using. I would say though the two things that seem to kill the juice are Bluetooth and Wifi. Use the ToggleWifi and ToggleBlu apps to help mitigate that. There is an aftermarket G1 battery that brings it up to the same levels as the iPhone, I don’t know if th extra 15% is worth the $45 you will spend but that’s a choice you have to make yourself!