OK so I traded up I now have a G1 which I love. There is a a bunch of really cool features IF you are a Google junkie like me. Before I ever purchased the G1 I was already using Google for my email, calendar, photos, and documents. I love iGoogle for all the great widgets and since I am an old school google user I found the transition to the phone seem less. If you are looking for this pone to be an iPhone you will be very disappointed, it is NOT an iPhone, but it does have many similar apps, a lot for free. So on to some of the tips I have found out that would have been nice to know from the minute I turned the phone on.
Ever wanted to get back to an app with out having to pull the menu back up? All you have to do is hold down the home button and it will pop up a screen with the programs running.
Worried about hiding things on the phone? There is 2 ways to do this one you can go to the “market” and download Linda File Manager for free this will allow you to change the name of folders and files on your memory stick. it will also allow you to copy, cut, and paste files. If you rename a folder by putting a period in front of the / it will hide the folder. There are a couple of pay programs on the market and the best one I have found is Hide and Seek it is $.99 so a good deal, allows you to tap to hide and has password locking as well as a cool flashlight feature to hide the face you have a program hiding files.
The G1 is a heat touch screen which makes it awesome in MOST situations, like no pocket dialing. It sucks though if you have gloves on because you cant use the phone without taking them off defeating the purpose of the gloves.
Want to add app shortcuts to the home screens? In the app menu just press and hold the app and it will drop the menu away so you add the app to the home screen.
The camera on the phone sucks, no way around that right now. I believe the camera in there is more then likely fine but the apps written for it so far have all sucked, including the one Google gives you with the phone. There is no video recording as of yet if anyone finds a decent app that is doing it let me know.
Uploading music to the phone is simple enough through the USB port, it took me a minute to figure out that you need to actually mount it thru the phone when it pops up saying it is connected to USB. I love the Amazon music download, it is all in MP3 format and allows me to just use my amazon login info to purchase
The “Market” this is a great way to get appp, I have never been really able to buy apps for my phones because the actual bill is a business phone so if I bought apps thru the phone it was charged to the bill. With the “Market” you just use google checkout which makes it so I can just charge my credit card. I wish that it had more ways to search and parse the files but I am sure that will come in time.
Worried about your phone getting scratched up? I have a Zagg invisible shield on mine. These things work! I am the type to dump my phone in my purse and be on my way. I dont have one scratch on it yet and it’s been about 3 months. The shield is a little pricey and a pain to put on, but totally worth it for protecting your investment. I dropped the phone about 2 weeks ado and even though the corner where it smashed into the ground looked bad when I lifted the shield it was fine. I just cleaned out around the little tab (sand) and pushed it back down and it if fine.
Looking to play flash? -sigh- Too bad for now, there has been rumors of an update but that was supposed to be in March so they must have been just that.. rumors.
