my poor attempt at making something cool with my g1 phone

For those of you who are looking to get your bite of the Cupcake Release before the over the air update (Cupcake new features are here), then I have installed it on my phone didn’t find any issues except for a few application compatibility issues with the update however you should follow these rules at your own risk.

I downloaded the EU update which seems to have all the bits in it, works perfectly on the UK networks and is reassuringly downloaded from Google itself.  (thanks to German Android Hilfe for the information) .  I know that there is a UK version floating around in the wild however this if anyone can supply the original google link for it, I would be happy to included it here.

Before you start:

The following applications should be removed prior to installing

1. Toggle settings (there is a new Toggle Settings(cupcake Release ) in the market which you should install after the update

2. Chomp Sms- There is also a new cupcake compatible release in the market.

Right now to the installation:

1. First thing is to make sure you are on the RC9 release of Google Android on your phone ( Android 1.1)- go to Settings->About Phone

1. Download the latest Android 1.5 Update

2. Copy the file onto your MIcro –SD card by mounting your phone onto your pc.

3. Rename the file to Update.zip and wait a minute or two before you unplug.

4. Turn off the handheld and when you power it back up press and hold the home key until you see a warning logo appear.

(If you see the google android logo, then you need to power it down and try again.)

5. Press Alt-L on the keyboard

6. Follow onscreen prompt to press Alt-s to apply the update

7. then leave it alone- it takes a long time- it will reboot when it is good and ready.

Enjoy!

Some of the highlights include: (Courtesy of the Google Android Main Site)

Highlights

• Fast, smooth typing with the on-screen virtual keyboard
• Easy access to favourite apps, contacts, bookmarks, and more via home screen widgets and live folders
• Video recording, playback, and sharing
• Full web experience with enhanced browser
• Hands-free calls and listening with stereo Bluetooth
• Lots of UI refinements and performance improvements to the overall phone experience
• New APIs and elements to enable even more innovative apps from developers

A Full list of features can be found on the Android 1.5 Release Developer page for those of you who need to know all there is about this great release.

There is even a handy Android 1.5 Demonstration video courtesy of Google.

This release is a great start and I will be going through the features in more detail over the coming posts. If this is the cupcake release, I can’t wait for the next release – hopefully titled Chocolate Cake-mmmm)

Keep on baking Google, the competition is getting heavy out there.

Here are some simple instructions which you just need to go through step by step and you will be working 100% on o2.

If you are transferring over from another network make sure to request your PAC migration code- if you are moving to tmobile then lucky you- it will work straight away.  If you are connecting to o2 then you need to make some changes to get it working.

To get your Unlocked Tmobile G1, HTC Magic to work on o2. ( Not sure how to unlock? Read my post on how to unlock your Android Phone)

Change the following settings

1. Activate your Voicemail by dialling 1750.

2. Check your voicemail is working by dialling 901

901 send

Go into Settings->Wireless Controls–> Mobile Networks–> Access Point Names

Voicemail –> 1750  default 8705.

Press and hold 1 to dial your voicemail.

The phone will show a message that says “No voicemail number is stored on the SIM card.”

Press add number– Click Voicemail and enter 901

(in my experience you may need to do this a few times so save O2 Voicemail as a contact to speed this up!)

Cool thats O2 voicemail working!

Now for Data:

1. I have put the settings below  however if you find that they are not working , then just dial 2020 to get to the data team for settings-(and let me know via comment so I can update this post.
2. Go to settings -> wireless controls
3. Go to Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names
4. Make sure you select and delete each APN on the list.
5. Click Menu and select New APN
6. Use the following settings: Name- o2 gprs
7. apn: mobile.o2.co.uk
8. username: o2web
9. password: password
10. Then press menu and save and then turn off the phone and restart and you are done!
11. Market should be working, email working and your browser is now working!

Nice job

To activate your MMS and Data

Dial 2020

You are working!

Just before my trip to Malaysia earlier this year, I enquired about unlocking my G1 phone and spoke to the T-mobile customer services. Good news is that  they can do it. It costs 20 odd quid and they can do it for you in 28 days.

Not so good if you leave things to the last minute like I did.  So I started shopping around and found these guys and thus  I am happy to say I can post the following:

How to unlock your Android phone unlocked in 25 minutes

Be very careful of who you use for unlocking the phone as there are lots of cowboy companies that advertise on Google that will take your money and give you a code that doesn’t work.  There are loads of people on the forum, lamenting one company or another, and I am very happy to recommend these guys because I know it works.

1. Go to Phone Unlockers

2. Click the Google Logo on the front page

3. Enter your IMEI number and details.

4. Pay using Paypal

5. Within 25 minutes you will receive an email with your unlock code and instructions:

Here are the instructions to use these codes:

1.   Insert the SIM card you wish to use.
2.  Turn the handset on.
3. Phone will ask “SIM Network Unlock Code”.
4.  Enter code we provide you with.

And you are done!

Congrats you are using your Android Phone without any carrier lock!

My free gift from T-mobile UK

This is going to sound odd, but the the G1 sucks.. a little.. but then again so did the IPhone when it came out. Having a group of talented individuals who know what the want to create is great, however the sad thing is that deadlines  get in the way. There is no denying that a lot of things fell by the wayside in the run up to launch. (eg multitouch support ,poor battery life )

They fact that the Android team did as much as they did so quickly is laudable and just shows what building something from the ground up can do.

The G1 is quite an unusual device , like when the Iphone was released there was a few things about it that weren’t up to par- no MMS, no forwarding text messages- the G1 has a similar stable of issues. Some of them may never be fixed like the weak battery life and the lack of multitouch. (thanks to Apple potential litigation), but the vast majority will be sorted out.  There are a few things which aren’t great about it but we can go into that another time- all I can say is that overwhelmingly its the best phone I have ever had.- More than my blackberry that I am shackled to for work and a lot better than my old windows mobile.

I have been with T-Mobile for years, and have always found them great, by far they have the best customer service, and the most knowledgeable tech support in the UK ( at least of the four main networks).  I have had various iterations of varios and nokias from them down the line, which is why I was delighted when the G1 came out on them first.

When the G1 was launched, I stood in line in the rain anxiously waiting to get my mits on it.  I  was 8th in line to get the G1 when it came out and have been loving my G1 ever since(see the picture of the freebie sweets)

6 months down the line- I have still got my G1 and am looking forward to the new cupcake update (aka Android 1.5) coming out shortly which will hopefully clear out some of the remaining issues

In hindsight its clear that the phone lacks a lot of the polish that the Iphone had when it was released however its changing and changing for the better

So here’s to the android platform, I predict market share dominance in 2 years.

I’m sure that many of you are not new to the subject of blogs, and realize that most blogs startout as one thing, go through some changes and end up as something quite different.

Bearing in mind that this is my first post on this blog, I feel severely under qualified to even say what it is about, hence I have left is first post open as a placeholder. Perhaps in a few weeks, a few months, I will be in a better place to give a good introduction.

In the next post I plan on brainstorming some ideas, and some rules on how can suitably cover the subject matter of the Mobile Android operating System  from a UK perspective.