T-Mobile G2 The First 4G Smartphone From T-Mobile
Oct 17th, 2010 Posted in technology | no comment »After several months of playing coy, T-Mobile has finally formally announced details about the soon-to-be newly released T-Mobile G2. As a successor to the G1, the G2 promises a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and T-Mobile intends to further the G legacy by making it the first smartphone to support its recently hopped-up HSPA+ network. HSPA+ speeds should close in on 4G, and T-Mobile is marketing it as a phone that “delivers 4G speeds.”
However, that marketing has not gone over well with the competition. AT&T specifically has tried to debunk T-Mobile’s attempts to connect 4G with HSPA+ as completely misleading . T-Mobile contends that since the G2 will able to attain theoretical download speeds of 14.4 Mbps, which is in the range of Sprint’s WiMax, a true 4G network, that their marketing is honest. It’s all a matter of perspective, and while HSPA+ is not technically fourth-generation technology, it is the same thing for practical purposes. 4G has greater theoretical maximums than HSPA+, but the G2 will long be outdated when that becomes an issue.
Back to the phone, T-Mobile has made it clear that they don’t plan to mess with a good thing. In other words, G2 will be an evolution of the G1, but all the core features that the consumers currently love, like the QWERTY keyboard, will still be there. In addition, there’s the 800 MHz Snapdragon CPU, a 3.7-inch screen, and a 5-megapixel camera that has an LED flash and which shoots 720p HD video. The T-Mobile G2 also has 4 GB of on-board memory and it includes an 8 GB memory card for a combined 12 GB. Users will be able to upgrade to a 16 GB or 32 GB card for a total of 20 GB or 36 GB respectively. The good news is that G2 accessories, such as memory cards, will be interchangeable with those from the G1.
The biggest area of concern about these specifications is the decrease from a 1 GHz to an 800 MHz processor. According to T-Mobile’s press release, the reduction was important to achieve optimal battery life. Of course, none of this matters if the Snapdragon in the G2 performs adequately, and we should note that comparing CPUs isn’t as simple as comparing clock cycles. The worrisome aspect of this is the reports that HSPA+ connectivity apps drink a lot of power, in which case the downgrade to the 800 MHz may be an actual sacrifice.
The G2 will be released with a T-Mobile-tweaked Android 2.2 Froyo operating system as well as Swype and Quick Keys on the physical slide-out keyboard. Users will be able to use these as customizable single-press keyboard shortcuts to apps, websites, and a host of other functionality. An unproven rumor has stated that the G2 will come with built-in screen protection, thus making all third-party screen protectors obsolete. We should find out later this month when T-Mobile allows pre-ordering.
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