Google announced back on Monday April 14th that the next Android release 1.5 will be based on the CupCake branch which includes the much sought after improvements most have been waiting for.
I wanted to digest this Cupcake and how it actually “cooks” inside a G1 when ported over before posting.
Here are some of the recent conclusions I and others have had on the G1 with the current Android 1.5 SDK:
- The on screen keyboard is a nice to have for SHORT inputs, anything of length I just feel the need for the full on real deal keyboard of the G1
- The widgets are a nice add on as the current public demand is for more widget customization and theme skinning
- The stereo Bluetooth works like a champ
- Video recording works sufficiently but I really don’t see using it over a decent digital camera
- Browser seems a bit faster and smoother – I was expecting marketable improvements with the improved browser engine
- Battery life seems marginally improved as I would hope that T-Mobile realizes it needs to move forward with providing an improved battery for its customers that I know its been internally debating since last year.
The main improvements contained within the Android 1.5 CupCake Release include:
- New Linux kernel version 2.6.27
- System wide refinement of all core user interface elements
- Animated window transitions
- Accelerometer based application rotations
- Faster camera startup and image capturing
- Direct upload of photo to Picasa
- Faster acquisition of GPS location – I know for me this took FOREVER
- On-screen soft keyboard
- Home screen widgets
- Live folders
- Video recording & playback in MPEG-4 or 3GP formats
- Direct upload of videos to YouTube – I think will be a often used feature
- Stereo Bluetooth support of both A2DP & AVCRP profiles plus auto-pairing
- Faster browser with the latest Webkit & Squirrelfish Javascript engine
- Copy & Paster within the browser
- Specific Date & Time stamp in call log – ANOTHER Thank God improvement
Overall it meets my expectations and curious to how it will be once HTC stabilizes it for both the G1 & G2.
Of course most important is WHEN it will be released as an OTA update for the current G1 owners as my sense is it will be around April 26th, 2009.
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How about being able to transfer files and contacts over bluetooth? Have they added OBEX FTP? It’s galling that the cheapest Nokia provides it and my G1 does not.
My question is about the bluetooth. Will the stack be fixed, or is it already fixed? I’m asking because I tried to connect to a friend of mine’s sidekick via the bluetooth, and was not able to. Keep in mind that I haven’t tried since I was updated with RC33, but I didn’t hear about that being fixed when the rumors and eventual confirmation of this update was being discussed.
I also wanted to know if we’ll get different themes and icons to choose from built into the phone system, some of us don’t wanna have to download a buncha different programs (free or not) to change themes and or icons and widgets. Even the most basic of phones and phone companies offer that ability built into the phone itself. ( eh em metro pcs). I had a metro phone before getting my G1, and my phone was nowhere near as hi-tech as this, but this phone can’t change themes unless I download ahome, or open home or something.
These upgrades are great, but what about WPA2 Enterprise wifi? I work on a large urban college campus that is about to offer only WPA2 Enterprise wifi, and I will be out of luck unless I root the phone.
Colleges seem like a great market for Android users, but many will be very turned off if they cannot use wifi.
Use the Wifi helper application (fredzhung.blogspot.com) for WPA2 Ent. Wifi support.
I Hope this is the real deal this time. You’d think my hopes (and apparently dreams) for cupcake would have been crushed and forgotten, by now. It makes sense since time and time again the cupcake story is revived then obliterated. But sadly I still find myself hoping… that’s sad, isn’t it? How many times was it now? 3? More? Less? Id say that I don’t care anymore, but id be lyyyyying. I’m just an idiot who’s just as gullible as the next…… hmph, watch this one be the real thing…. and watch me cry when it isn’t. LOL
It is the real deal. Rooted users already ported the update on to their phone. Yes rooted users are able to get any updates from T-mobile before it is launched. Now the only question is, when will it be aviable for non rooters who tried to be loyal to tmobile&google and not root their phones (or didn’t know how to lol). Let’s hope its soon. Which is an 80% chance
Why do you predict it will be out around April 26th?
That date was purely just putting a finger up in the wind. My current best guess is that is a bit too optimistic as 1 to 2 weeks after that would be more reasonable.
Sooner & Stabler the better!
Aww man : oh well. Good point, thank you
This is going to sound stupid but, what the hell is live folder?I been trying to understand the purpose of it after getting to the point that it could put contact shortcuta on desktop. But what’s the use of it?can I share things such as files or text on live folder? Thanks
The LIVE FOLDER in this case for Android is a means to get real time updates such as from an RSS feed as opposed to an online storage folder.
I am interested in knowing how us “Rooted Folks” Will be affected by the ota update, I have the Jf root, and am wondering if the download will work the same way or if we need to do it manually? I hope that they took this into consideration when they decided to go OTA with the update, who am I kidding these guys are geniuses, I hope.
What about fixing the #$%^#@&^ email program?
This has to be the most buggy and the worst email program ever created. Even with using the K-9 improvement it’s still horrible. I came from a Sidekick and even it’s email program was light years better than the G1′s.
Come on.
When i try to update i click alt+s and it says there is no signature (368 files) and that the verification failed and then aborted. can anyone please tell me either whats wrong or a step by step installation. thank you
How do i get the update on my phone i just have a regular G1 from the store and havent rooted i didnt want to do anything until i got all the info possible. whats my first step?
Good news Mike..
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.de%2Fg1%2Fsoftware-update&sl=de&tl=en&history_state0=
Yes! Proof I can believe in! And to the other person who replied before who said rooted users got it already…trust me that made me believe too. This just makes it more solid. Now, I can stop obsessing over this site every minute… LOL. When it’ll come is still a mystery, but just as long as it’s coming, I’m happy!
I i ported it over to my g1 just yesterday, i had some bugs in the beginning in rebooting the phone, but it works fairly solid. for ahome users, the cupcake version is kinda buggy, but functional, but im more than certain these bugs will get fixed, but we should be held over until a more “official” version comes out lol. i am kinda disappointed in the browswer though.
I had the HTC Magic firmware ported over. Obviously it was buggy, but I got a great feel of what the improvements were. Honestly, the phone stopped working so I rolled it back and, thanfully, everything is fine. However, I miss the camcorder, youtube acct access and checkboxes on the gmail app. I cld finally select more than 1 email and apply changes, like archive, or mark as read. The screen transitions were fancy, but DroidSans does abt the same thing. Also, many apps did not work, such as ChompSMS and RingDroid. :/
Patience is a virtue I guess.
Happy Waiting y’all. Can’t be long away now. I would say 30 days tops as a guesstimate.
On the T-Mobile intranet it says that the 1.5 release will be ‘from the beginning of May’.
So would today be considered the beginning of may? Because, I’m still waiting.
I always have wifi on… I don’t remember how it was with the last update of RC33… but I think I might have turned wifi off so that I could the ota update. So, does wifi really effect it? Or, was it just coincidence last time? Should I just keep off wifi until I get the cupcake update?
I got my update this morning : ) I love all the improvmes including the new android robot as smilies on text messaging! Also I’m in the uk
I have been using the JF build for quite a while and it seems rather solid. I honestly think the first thing people should do is root their phone once they get it. It opens up a world of possibilities.
Unfortunately there are still a lot of misssing profiles for bt. I hope in future releases there will be bluetooth hid support in order to use a travel keyboard. There is an office suite being worked on called androffice that looks incredibly promising but is still in development. No direct DUN, OBEX, or HID. I’m sure some can get it working using a rooted phone and bluez.
The update is well worth it. It has many improvements that you will notice if you update. The soft keyboard is nice and works with most things. The email client does suck and hopefully someone develops a new one. They have added nice options like the auto rotating.
It is best to root the phone though. There are instructions on how to do it. Waiting on t-mob is a pain and they are paranoid about releasing bad ota updates so they must test it for a long while before sending it out.
Hope that info helps.