By Anybody can buy an unlocked T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream courtesy of Google – all you have to do is buy one of Google’s own Android Dev Phone 1 devices for $400 plus a few fees. Many have been reluctant to do so though, originally with frequency of OS updates being of concern and most recently non-access to Paid Apps being the issue. Google and HTC have now resolved both of these with Version 1.1 of Android for the Android Dev Phone launching today.
The release notes provide a list of everything that is new and some of the improvements included are:
- Support for Search by Voice
- Priced Apps
- Alarm Clock Fixes
- Sending Gmail freeze fixed
- Fixes mail notifications and refreshing intervals
- Maps now show business reviews
Many of the improvements are in regards to the POP3 e-mail accounts which I’m sure will make people using the Dev Phone 1 as their main phone very happy. A bunch of API changes have been made as well.
One of the biggest issues here is obviously that Developers can now see Paid Apps on the market. If you’re launching a paid application and only have a Dev Phone I’m sure it would be mighty frustrating to be left in the dark as to how your app is performing on the market – especially in regards to all of the lovely comments folks love to leave. Developer Advocate Dan Morrill addressed this issue specifically:
Some developers have asked about the support for copy-protected apps on developer devices, and indeed there is a limitation you should be aware of. Many developers are concerned about the unauthorized redistribution of their applications, so they make use of the copy-protection feature (known as “forward locking”) which prevents applications from being copied off devices. However, developer phones like the ADP1 allow for unrestricted access to the device’s contents, making it impossible to enforce copy protection. As a result, the Market application on such devices is not able to access copy protected apps, whether they are free or paid. If you choose to add copy protection when you upload your application to the Android Market, then you won’t be able to test it on the ADP1’s Android Market client. Your application will always be accessible to users who have standard configurations though, and if your application (whether it is free or paid) is not copy-protected it will appear on all devices, including developer configurations.
Thanks to Google and HTC for staying in touch with the needs of the community!
Instead of stopping people with dev phones from accessing protected apps, they need to fix their protection so that it’s not so easy to circumvent (rooted phones get past just as easy as the Dev phones). Clearly their protection method is flawed, if a phone distributed by them can bypass it.
The news is not as good as it sounds.
You can now download paid apps on the Dev 1 phone, but only if the app is NOT copy protected. How many paid apps in the Market do you think are not copy protected? Not many. We’re still being screwed by Google with this phone in terms of paid apps. $400 and I still don’t have the right to buy 99% of the paid apps even on version 1.1.
I’m getting ready to jump ship soon. Google is starting to pull Apple like policies and I’m sick of it. Whatever happened to Google’s motto of “Don’t be evil”
See the attached story from Engadget Mobile:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/03/09/google-issues-first-android-dev-phone-1-update-clarifies-paid-a/
@Shane – unfortunately google is “evil” either way. They need to protect the developers who don’t want their applications pirated, as well. Failure to do so would probably be MORE detrimental to the credibility of the platform and I think that’s why they chose this route.
I’m sure this is an issue being discussed behind the scenes but when it comes down to it the phone is a developer phone and it wasn’t meant for consumer use. I think Google is being cautious and careful here and protecting the integrity of the market and paid apps which I can totally appreciated.
Just my opinion…
anybody heard of a webisode called Johnny Cuticles that is coming out? My friend just texted me about it, he sent me a link to some dudes blog, supposedly its linked to the new series of an agent that uses an android to save the world or something. Heres the blog: [link removed]
somebody please confirm something.
yea… i already told rob.. not sure if he knows about it. I heard something about that too, but I didnt know about the blog. Seems possible that they are related… he talks about the open handset alliance and supposedly the “secret agent” uses an android. So there is a link some how. Did you know about the twitter account that “Johnny Cuticles” had?
Interesting that Felipe and Jonathen have the same IP address…
buzz killer… it something i really heard.. just trying to hype up something thats sounds pretty cool.. and hope that its true!! Wonder why you removed the blog link.
it would be nice if they were put in to a format so i could easily listen to them on my android phone that would be great.
I was planning on developing for the device having already bought the ADP… since they’ve screwed this over I’ve decided to stick with other devices now – there will be an ADP on eBay shortly – see ya Google bye.
When will we get a bluetooth update on the G1