Apple may be slowly driving away its customer base by controlling its app store check-ins. The latest reject is Google Voice. Two clear reasons for this. One its an app by a competing phone OS and two AT&T would have twisted Apple’s arm (though it wouldn’t really need to) so its keeps its revenues where it belongs.

However, unlike the desktop/laptop OS’s where Apple can be rigid about policies, the phone market isn’t where Apple can afford to keep up with these nuisances. For one, this market segment has much more competition. Also, things can change quickly with a year or two. There is a minor wow-factor with the iPhone but that is quickly fading with better Andriod sets coming out and Palm, Mircrosoft among others pushing their own OS’s which are just as competive.

After much deliberation I finally picked up an HTC G1 android phone. A month into using it, my first impressions are GOOD.

I was a Sony Ericsson (not smartphone) user for a long time. I tried various other models and none seemed to match up to the Sony Ericsson in terms of usability. I think the interface was simple, placement of menu items was very intuitive and in general just easy to use.

The Android OS does just that. Everything is laid out in easy to read, intuitive places, Menu options are short and do not overwhelm. Enabling and disabling services is easy.

Most of the things I dislike about Android aren’t really the OS’s fault. It is the HTC G1. It is big and bulky, feels cheap and just lacking glam. However, the OS isn’t without its flaws. Considering it is currently at 1.5 I understand it has plenty of time to develop. However

* There is no support for WPA-Enterprise. The browser doesn’t support bookmarklets. I think these and others like these are basic functionality and needs to be addressed.

* The menu button provides additional options for the app or the OS in general. For one, this isn’t intuitive. Moreover, the options are still very basic. Furthermore, the options cannot be user configured. For example, if you are using the browser and want to go to the home page, you need to click Menu -> More -> Home page. If I want Home page to show on the main menu, there is no way to do this.

* The battery like is terrible. Not the OS fault but it contributes. Backgrounding processes keeps them running and keeps the battery draining. I’m not a fan of push notifications really, but something needs to be done.

* Wifi pickup is weak. Don’t know what the cause is but at coffee shops where my laptop works fine, the G1 doesn’t pick up the SSID or picks it up briefly then drops.

There are tons of other minor things but I suppose those exist with every phone out there.

It’s not all grey. As a smartphone, Android is great. It’s interface is clean. The usability is great. Most apps in the market are free and good. There are tons of those great little features that I really like and make the phone fun to use.

Overall, I’m sticking with it. Since I haven’t used the IPhone intensely, this won’t be a shootout. But I dislike the way Apple arm-wrestles the market, the apps, and its users and I don’t want any part of that.

Finally, one thing to point out is I’m using the G1 with no data plan. While most people I met say this defeats the purpose, I disagree strongly. Wifi is predominant in most places and increasing daily. Besides the two places I spend most of my time has wireless access. So I don’t miss out on anything.

Overall rating 3.5 stars.

We all know and love/hate Apple fanboys. These guys are willing to look past the obvious evilness and daylight-robbing techniques used by Apple and just pay up their hard-earned paychecks to buy themselves some goodlooking goodies.

Now, we have a new wave of Apple-hating Google fanboys. Google’s evilness has been slowly but surely growing and with that is an increasing number of followers who swear by the google way. Andriod is the latest in this wave of followers which includes editors for the Washington post. If Apple introduces a hidden kill-switch on the iPhone, its baaaaaad. But Google does it, anounces it (they obviously know it will be found and don’t want the Apple bad publicity) it is great. Infact, it is for the better good.

Hmmm.. And the logic is even better. Google system is open and so people could exploit users but putting out malicious software that users can install and cause havoc. Where have I heard this before? Oh yeah, every OS in the world connected to the internet download stupid stuff like Anna Kournikova naked apps. Hmmm, I wonder how the Washington Post would like Microsoft to automatically delete software they bought just because they think it will be malicious.