T-Mobile G1 questions & answers

Will T-Mobile allow laptop tethering on the G1? Will I get 3G reception in my neighborhood? What's up with video recording? Get the answers right here.

Check out my hands-on impressions of the T-Mobile G1 right here.

I hear the G1 works with T-Mobile's 3G network; will I be able to tether it to my laptop for data access when I'm on the road?
Not out of the box, no, although the reps I spoke to were wishy-washy on the topic. Of course, there's nothing stopping someone from writing a laptop-tethering Android app, but it's still not clear whether T-Mobile will allow it (let's hope they do). Stay tuned.

How much will the data plan be?
For $25 a month, you can get "unlimited" 3G data over T-Mobile's network (although "unlimited" often includes a cap of some kind); for $10 more, you'll also get unlimited text messages. Compare that to AT&T, which charges $30/month for the iPhone 3G's data plan.

So, what cities will be covered by T-Mobile's 3G network come October?
Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio and San Diego are online now; by mid-October Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle will come on board. By the end of the year, six more markets will get 3G: Birmingham, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Memphis, and Tampa.

What if I don't live in any of those cities, but I still want the G1?
Then you'll have to make do with EDGE data and Wi-Fi. The G1 will still work, of course, but expect features like Web browsing and Street View to be much slower over EDGE.

I heard that the G1 will only be on sale at stores in T-Mobile's 3G coverage area. True?
Well, yes and no. Only T-Mobile retails stores in the cities listed above will have the G1 for sale (although floor models may be available to ogling), but you'll still be able to buy the phone online, even in an EDGE-only area.

Does the G1 support push e-mail?
For Gmail, yes; POP and IMAP accounts, however, will be pull-only.

How does the G1's QWERTY keypad measure up?
Pretty well, I thought—it's actually about the size of a Sidekick keypad, which is considerably bigger than the tiny thumbboards on Treos and even BlackBerrys. I gave it a try, and my fingertips were pretty happy.

So wait—no video recording?
Nope, although T-Mobile and Google reps say they fully expect third-party developers to build their own video-recording apps, so never fear.

What about Office documents?
The G1 will only be able to read Word and PDF documents out of the box—but again, third-party developers will probably be coming out with their own Office document editors soon enough.

Can I play music from iTunes on the G1?
If they're DRM-free MP3 (a.k.a., "iTunes Plus") files, sure. But the G1 won't support Fairplay-protected songs purchased over iTunes.

Is there some kind of desktop client for syncing up the G1?
There isn't, but reps said that once you sign in to your Google account over the G1's interface, all your Google contacts, calendar info, and Gmail will flow onto the phone automatically. As far as music goes, I'm guessing that the G1 will show up as a removable drive when attached to your system via USB; all you'd have to do then is drag and drop (and don't forget the removable microSD storage card).

Got more questions? Sure you do—just post them below.