Screw the Skeptics, the one REAL problem.

[bradynapier]

I am quite possibly the largest advocate of the Android phone. I have single-handedly brought it on myself to activate as many of my friends on the G1 as possible, as many of the features would require all your friends to network together via Android to work flawlessly!

However, I am running into one problem that I have noticed - your contacts are automatically synced with your Google Account (in a sense, your G Mail) Now I have had G-Mail for about 2 years and have accrued about 490 contacts (they are automatically added when sending/receiving e-mails) - now out of all of these... maybe ONE has a phone number... so I am worried that I am going to be spammed with new contacts I don't really care about (Info@bestbuy.com or whatever it may be) after every email I send/receive!

Now I am not 100% positive this is the way it is going to work - but it raises concern...


Now as-to a few of the things people say are going to "ruin" the G1:

No Headphone outlet - REALLY!? Are you kidding? I bet the chances are high it comes with that adapter and it's going to be a tiny connector who cares!... that is the stupidest thing I've heard.

No Multi-Touch - In what instance are you gonna sit there and honestly be like "this phone sucks... i cant even hold it wierd and use two fingers to make my pictures bigger... instead of pressing the big + button to zoom easily..." (I can see the downside for games... but I honestly am happy this is not present

No SIM-unlocking, T-Mobile only - I give it two-three weeks before this is accomplished...

No tethering - I give it one month before this is accomplished

No Adobe Flash - Probably available within days of release

No Microsoft Silverlight - This is up to someone else... microsoft will probably support Google as little as possible.

No Microsoft Exchange - My company is actually developing a Exchange sync to be released with our Android for Business Suite (to be announced later this year)

No iTunes - No iTunes, but AMAZON... which is MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better

No Skype or VoIP on 3G - The Google rep said "not yet, but we have seen things"

No stereo Bluetooth A2DP - Don't know much about this.. but I dont personally care.

No desktop synching with PCs or Macs - Again, this will be apart of my Android for Business suite

No compatibility with the standard iPod/iPhone connectors - Haha really? No comment on this one... just a laugh.

No video recording - Umm.. didn't iPhone have to get hacked to do this? Android is open source... something more advanced than any built-in could be will be released soon enough.. if theres a shortcoming that can be fixed via software you can trust someone to make something to make money off of that shortcoming - it's called utilizing the market fella's

No built-in video player, must download from third-party - Umm, I have read support for many video codecs... so I believe this is a mistake or mistype

No camera flash - err... This is kind of a shortcoming... but you shouldn't be using your phone for this type of photography anyways..

No proximity sensor - Proximity Sensor? Compass could be utilized to do nearly anything a Prox sensor can

No ambient light sensor - Really?

No data-only T-Mobile plans - Duh... its a phone and they want you to utilize all of it's features... but I did think I saw something along the lines of "data only" so I think your on crack.

Limited to 1GB bandwidth cap, speed down to 50kbps after 1GB - No longer the case... FIXED (Shows google's service and commitment)

Limited to 3G coverage in only 22 locations in the U.S. - 3G is new to T-Mobile ... they will be investing millions in expanding that fast and effectively...

Limited to stores within vicinity of T-Mobile 3G covered locations - Smart

Limited to users with Google accounts only - Google Account are free.. so what? You sign up for an apple account when you have an iphone... its for the sync functionality and what-not... and should be required.. your sitting at your computer thinking of dumb things at this point

Limited to Google email, contacts, calendar, plus another generic email - There are no limits - its open source and anyone can release their own email, contacts, calendar... plus I do believe a new contacts list and calendar have already been released by a third party - from reviewing the ADC Forum posts

Limited to maximum 8GB memory, with additional microSD card purchase - If you watched ANY of the videos... it will be a short time before a firmware update is out (they say weekly for the first few months) that will allow the new 16 gb micro's... buy 20 memory cards and have as much memory as you want...

Limited to read-only Word, PDF, and Excel docs; no editing - This is the first day of release... this can be programmed and implemented by any programmer that wants to ... you can also edit docs via Google Docs browser which should be supported at launch

Limited screen size (3.2″) and colors (65K) - This is on the same level of the industry standard - you can expect a more advanced version after there is more support via apps and what not to warrant a more expensive phone in the near-future... right now there isn't a market for a high-end android phone...

Limited language support - Again.. up to developers.. its an open platform

Limited apps and games - This is a guess... I believe there are some thousands of applications already developed because of the ingenius of the ADC... Please just wait for that one...

Limited transparency on how Google or carriers will ‘validate’ app submissions - I do believe it is nearly open ... other than a terms prohibiting certain apps.. but that is the official marketplace.. nothing is stopping someone from building their own marketplace with no terms for those who wish to download the porn games... haha

Limited industrial design appeal - WTF?


Let me close this with a statement that all should hold close...

When developing a product such as Android, which focuses on community networking and device/social networking via mobile devices - your goal is to get as much third-party support as possible... you get this by creating a platform that nearly everyone owns... which means you need to release your first device cheaper then the competition and at least at the level... I would say first generation (G1) is even with the iPhone in terms of capabilities... but you can bet that within 1 year there will be 4-5 choices ranging from lower-end (No touch screen) to higher end (everything you guys bitch about not having).

How is the iPhone, which is one device with everything proprietary taking 30% of their app store sales going to compete with 4-5 phones across all the networks (except Verizon who is supporting another OHA like system) which is completely open and offers developers a chance to make more money...

I personally take Android to it's own INDUSTRY above and beyond the telecom industry...

[mazimi]

I don't know about the G1, but if you use the Google Talk client you'll see that your contact list is cluttered with all the email addresses of those you have emailed using your gmail account. However, you simply click on the "View" button in the bottom left and uncheck "Show all address book contacts" and it shows only the people I talk to on Google Talk.

[insight spinner]

I moderate a lot of lists and have an amazing number of useless links in my contacts from approving emails via email, so that's a concern I didn't have until now. Thank you very much. But now I will think of this as a one month period for spring cleaning. I've already begun getting my contacts together and am looking for tips and shortcuts for that. It's definitely time to drop some unneeded automatic mail captures. Hmmmm... gmail needs a feature to address this. I'm sure that will show up quicker than development on google groups.

[Audemars]

I don't know about the G1, but if you use the Google Talk client you'll see that your contact list is cluttered with all the email addresses of those you have emailed using your gmail account. However, you simply click on the "View" button in the bottom left and uncheck "Show all address book contacts" and it shows only the people I talk to on Google Talk.

Yeah, I went in yesterday and updated my contacts in GMail, just using a csv that I occasionally update with all my contact info in it. The way the contacts work in GMAIL is that people you regularly contact with are put into your actual contacts, and then all the other one-offs or stuff like that are held in a "suggested contacts" list. I presume THIS will NOT sync up with the G1 and are just there so you can move them over to your real contacts if you want to.

I would also presume the spam filter in GMAIL will prevent a lot of emails from coming to you that you do not want.

Though a lot of this stuff is just speculation till we actually get the device.

[bradynapier]

My hope is that when you register a G1 - it creates a "Mobile" group that you can sync the contacts of your choosing with. If they do this - we are good!

[New World]

My hope is that when you register a G1 - it creates a "Mobile" group that you can sync the contacts of your choosing with. If they do this - we are good!

Ok, according to page 40 of the G1 user manual

"You can limit the contacts that are synced to your phone. Select to sync all contacts, or just certain groups".

[Audemars]

My hope is that when you register a G1 - it creates a "Mobile" group that you can sync the contacts of your choosing with. If they do this - we are good!

Yeah I can't imagine them syncing EVERY SINGLE EMAIL ADDRESS to your phone, that would be crazy. I've had GMAIL since it was in invite-only status, and have hundreds if not thousands of email addresses that I've sent/received from. I'm sure they've taken this into consideration.

[bradynapier]

Awesome! Thanks.

[PCTechNerd]

When you open up your contacts in GMail, un-check the box on the right that says "Automatically move suggested contacts into My Contacts if I frequently email them.".

I went ahead and set up all my contacts correctly in preparation for my new G1 ^^. I'm going to start adding addresses to all of my contacts so that once synced with my new phone, i can auto GPS to someone easy cheesy

[New World]

No problem feel free to ask the community all the questions you have.