I’ve been excited about Google’s Android mobile platform since it was announced last year? but was really surprised when T-Mobile (the carrier I use) said they were bringing out the first phone to use the OS. The G1 is a phone by HTC, and was supposed to be introduced in black, brown, and white. I had my heart set on the white version, but they were delayed because of a paint chipping issue. I thought the black was too plain, and the brown, now known as bronze, wouldn’t be to my liking, but I’d see them in-person before making a decision.
Well, on Oct 22nd, the day the phone was in stores, I went to check them out and decided that the black one was the one that I liked better. The bronze phone was a little cheap looking. The metallic paint on the outside and the keyboard didn’t look so great to me. Plus, the letters on the keyboard were difficult to read when the backlight was on. The black one, on the other hand, was really cool looking. It’s kind of geeky in that it seems like an old walkie-talkie. It’s kind of heavy and substantial, and feels good up at my ear. The back of the phone is a little rubbery, kind of like a camera grip. They qwerty keyboard is comfortable to use and I can type pretty quickly on it. I don’t think I can go back to typing on a little numeric keypad.
Some other things I really like are the instant messaging, the wallpapers, the desktop shortcut customization, integration with google contacts, gmail, and calendar, and the access to my IMAP email accounts. The things that the G1 and Android is lacking right now are:
Music player shows ringtones in the list
Playlists are not coming over from Windows Media Player
IMAP email doesn’t always sync correctly (if I delete a message on the phone, it doesn’t actually delete from the server)
Email need a “Show only unread” option
Apps for Google Reader and Google Docs
No 3.5mm headphone jack. You have to use the mini-USB port.
Most of these issues I think will be fixed by Google (except the headphone jack, of course) via their “over the air” updates. The app store is starting to get some interesting applications as well. I am really looking forward to a robust ebook reader, because I used to love reading ebooks on my pocket pc, and the G1 will be even better.
All-in-all, I am really loving the G1. I am so glad that T-mobile users can finally have a cool phone! By the way, my IM of choice now is Google Talk, since it doesn’t incur any text messaging charges when I use it. So, if you are using Gtalk, add me to your list! barronfujimoto*at*gmail*dot*com.
Took the boys to see the newest Star Wars to hit the theaters, The Clone Wars, this morning. I read some reviews that said the movie was more like just a longer version of a cartoon, and I have to agree. I realize that this is kind of the introduction to the series that will be airing on Cartoon Network later, but still, for the price of regular movie admission, I would have thought it would have been a little better. My main gripe was with the story, and the pacing. It just didn’t feel right for a feature-length movie. We never get a chance to really know the new characters. There’s just too much action (in fact the whole movie is action) to really get any good dialogue out of any of them.
I really thought the animation style was really cool. It reminded me of some of the old concept art by Ralph McQuarrie for the original A New Hope movie. The ships and droids looked great, and the lightsaber battles were pretty cool. The new padawan Ahsoka was ok, but the new villain Asajj Ventress was really cool. It’s too bad that the villains in Star Wars are so incompetent. They really need a bad-ass villain who doesn’t die a stupid death. We’ll see if Ventess does anything cool in the series. A couple things about the movie really bothered me. First, Anakin really looked like a Thunderbirds marionette. The big eyes and button nose just looked weird. And secondly, Jabba’s uncle, Ziro the Hutt, had such a silly voice. He sounded like a gay southerner. I mean, he had a southern accent, but it was very effeminate. Plus he spoke English.
Overall, I’d say The Clone Wars was ok for Star Wars fans or for kids, but anyone else should probably pass on this one.
Mariko rented “Mr. Vampire” the other day, and we watched it with the kids after dinner. This is a great Hong Kong martial arts movie, but really light-hearted with tons of slapstick and goofy situations. The fighting is great, oftentimes the characters make mistakes (like missing the bad guy with a kick, and hitting the good guy),and the kids really got into it. The version we got had dubbed and subbed options, and we had them both on, which was hilarious because the word rarely matched what the actors were saying. I mean, it was not even the same meaning most of the time! But that made the movie all the more fun. A good rent from Netflix!
I saw “There Will Be Blood” on Friday with some friends, and it was pretty good. Not really my type of movie, but Daniel Day Lewis’ acting was amazing. He plays Daniel Plainview, oil man in California in the early 1900’s, who builds a successful oil business from scratch. Sometimes, he’s really likable, but other times he’s a real summabitch. Mostly, though, I was rooting for his success. He also had the best line at the end of the movie, “Bastard in a basket! Bastard in a basket!” If you don’t see this movie in the theaters, it’s definitely a good rent!
