T-Mobile G1 Q&A, part two

More questions about the new Google phone answered, including: How's the battery life? Will it work on AT&T? And why so ugly?

Check out my hands-on impressions of the G1, and don't forget to read the first part of my G1 Q&A.

Will I be able to use my own earphones with the G1?
Yes—but unfortunately, you'll need a mini-USB adapter. For some reason, the engineers at HTC (the hardware manufacturer that built the G1 for T-Mobile) decided not to include a standard 3.5mm (or even a 2.5mm) jack on the handset; instead, all you get is a mini-USB port. A mini-USB-to-3.5mm adapter should work (and T-Mobile might see fit to bundle one with the G1), but still, pretty annoying.

What the heck is Android, anyway? And what's Google doing making a phone?
First announced last November, "Android" is an open-source, Linux-based mobile operating system developed by Google. The search giant itself won't be building "Google phones" on its own; rather, it'll let third parties (such as HTC, in the case of the G1) handle the actual hardware, while existing carriers will provide the wireless service. For more, click here (and here, and here).

Will the G1 work with myFaves?
That's the T-Mobile service that lets you make unlimited calls to your five favorite people—and yes, it will.

Will there be an unlocked version of the G1?
Well, sort of. T-Mobile confirmed on Tuesday that the G1 will be "SIM locked" to its network, meaning you won't be able to just swap in an AT&T SIM card and start dialing away. However, you will be able to request a "SIM unlock" code from T-Mobile after 90 days (provided you're a customer "in good standing," as Engadget notes). Of course, you'll still be under contract with T-Mobile—that is, unless you buy a "no contract" G1 for the unsubsidized price of $399 (the phone goes for $179 with a two-year contract). Finally, keep in mind that hackers will probably make short work of the G1's SIM lock once it arrives in stores next month.

I travel a lot internationally; will the G1 work while I'm abroad?
The G1 is a quad-band GSM handset, meaning that it'll make calls on most worldwide GSM networks; just make sure you get an international calling plan (and a worldwide data plan, for that matter) from T-Mobile before you dial/surf outside the U.S.

Will it sync with my Outlook e-mail, or only with Gmail?
The G1's e-mail client supports both POP and IMAP, so yes—you'll be able to sync you e-mail messages and folders with any IMAP-compliant server. If you're only using POP e-mail, though (for example, Yahoo! Mail's paid service—inexplicably—only offers POP), you'll still be able to download messages remotely, but you won't be able to sync your folders or read/unread status. For now, the G1 doesn't support full-on Exchange or BlackBerry servers, although Google reps said that third-party developer can build Android apps to fill the void.

Will the new phone be pre-paid also?
From T-Mobile: "Prepaid service for the G1 is not available at this time." Bummer.

How's the battery?
All we have for now are T-Mobile's specs: Up to five hours of talk time, and about 130 hours of standby time—about par for the course, although I'd wager the standby estimate is wildly optimistic. I'll run my own tests once I get my hands on a review unit.

Does the G1 come in colors other than black and brown? I'm looking for something more feminine like white or pink.
There will be a white version available at launch—but that's it, besides black and brown. Then again, T-Mobile's been known to re-release its handsets in new colors (witness the BlackBerry Pearl and the potpourri of Sidekick models), so I wouldn't be surprised to see pink, blue, and other G1 colors in the coming months.

Android looks cool, but why is the G1 itself so ugly?
In the last day or so, some astute blogger (or reader? I can't remember) made an interesting observation: That the G1 is to the iPhone as the PC was to the Mac—in other words, less style/soul, but more utility. I wouldn't call the G1 ugly, per se, although it's certainly far less stylish than my iPhone 3G. Then again, I know plenty of users who'd happily trade in the iPhone's good looks for a physical QWERTY keypad—which the G1 just so happens to have. As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Got any more questions? Post away!