Props go to coder, Akira Harada, for the port, but it's just a sluggish preview at this point. If you're super keen, you can download the code for your G1 here, but you're probably better off just watching the video below and waiting for Cyanogen to cook up a fully functional Android 2.0 Éclair ROM. [HDBlog.it (translated) via SlashGear]

Despite the long list of new features in 1.5, the core of the OS is still more-or-less the same. Accordingly, most Android Market content is completely compatible, and those in the first wave to try the G1 builds were able to log in and download to their hearts' content. At some point in the last few days, though, it seems that Google has started cracking down—Google-sourced builds can no longer access the store, though HTC-sourced builds still seem to work fine.

The trick is to nab one of the "H"-suffixed versions, which'll give you all the perks without any of the sacrifice. —Note: Unlike previous "Cupcake" builds, this one includes Google Apps, the Android Market and the full battery of standard features that you can expect to see on a production HTC Sapphire, for example. It's not just the stripped-down OS. [haykuro via BGR]

On the subject of the $300 Touch Diamond, that seems like quite a hefty price for a phone that's been around for quite some time now, although it's comparable to the $300 AT&T will hit you up for if you're going for the similar HTC Touch Pro (aka Vuze).

Moving on to the more forward looking (albeit unconfirmed) department, this spyshot of a T-Mobile inventory system seems to suggest that quite a few upcoming HTC phones are headed to T-Mo, many of which can be spotted in HTC's 2009 product lineup that leaked a while back. On the list is the Rhodium, which is expected to be the successor to the Touch Pro, but no codename for the HTC Magic—the G1 successor we've seen and loved.

Then again, the origin of this spycam shot is unclear, so this could be anything. For more code-name decoding head over to T-Mo News, the source of the leaked shot. Press release for VZW's HTC Touch Pro follows: [T-Mo News]

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND AVAILABLE ON NATION'S MOST RELIABLE WIRELESS NETWORK

HTC Smartphone Delivers Advanced Technology with a Stylish Design to Business Professionals

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and BELLEVUE, Wash. – Verizon Wireless and HTC Corporation today announced that the HTC Touch Diamond™ will be available tomorrow through business sales channels and online at www.verizonwireless.com. The ideal productivity tool for busy professionals, the HTC Touch Diamond combines a fashionable mobile design with the added benefit of the nation's most reliable voice and data network for fast e-mail and Internet connectivity.

Available color: Black

Key features:

· Brilliant 2.76-inch touch screen display for navigating Web pages on the built-in Opera browser

· 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera

· microSD™ card slot that can support up to 16 GB of memory for extra storage of pictures, videos and music

· Customers can choose either the familiar Windows Mobile® home screen or the intuitive HTC TouchFLO™ 3D user interface

· Supports the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional platform and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office applications

Lifestyle Features:

· Visual Voice Mail to help customers prioritize their messages

· VZ NavigatorSM-capable to provide customers with audible turn-by-turn directions to more than 15 million points of interest and get directions to any address in the U.S. and share the directions with others

· Mobile IM to stay connected to colleagues when away from the office

Price:

· The HTC Touch Diamond will be available for $299.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

· VZ Navigator is available for $9.99 monthly access, and Visual Voice Mail is available for $2.99 monthly access. Other charges may apply when downloading or using applications.

· For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or visit www.verizonwireless.com. Business customers should call 1-800-VZW-4BIZ or contact their Verizon Wireless Business Sales Representatives.

What this means is that means that listed apps can be defined as carrier specific, by Google. A tethering app that violates T-Mobile's ToS will be either invisible or inaccessible to US users, while available to someone on a tethering-friendly network elsewhere. This has the effect of creating carrier-specific App Markets, and an uneven Android experience from company to company.

Of course, you can still install whatever apps you want if you're willing to get your hands a little dirty, but removing a category of app from the Marketplace will make it effectively off limits for most. [Android Community]

Yep, they're all getting G1s—even Google, who prints money as a hobby, is feeling the financiapocalypse:

This is a chance for us to once again dogfood a product and make it even better! Second, as we discussed in our email this week, the current economic crisis requires us to be more conservative about how we spend our money. We felt that giving the Dream phone would be a great holiday present - something we could all celebrate.

In corporate tech jargon, to "dogfood" a product is a reference to eating one's own dog food—that is, making employees use the products that they're shipping out to you. Lenovo does it, Microsoft does it, Google does it, everyone does it. Theoretically, it makes stuff better, since employees don't want to be stuck using a POS, so they'll make it better.

Still, this isn't any old G1, oh no sir: It's specially designed for Googlers with a 'droid' on the back! Wooooo. Okay, it actually is kind of special: It's totally unlocked and can be used with any GSM network provider. Which is great, except that 3G won't work, unless they've also got totally different networking gear inside because of the crazy way T-Mobile uses its spectrum.

But hey, who needs 3G—or 20 grand—nowadays anyway.

Update: An anonymous Googler has passed along a Q&A covering the full details of their oh-so-Dreamy holiday bonus:

Q: What is the holiday bonus for 2008?
The holiday bonus is a Google tradition. In the past, we have chosen to make this a monetary gift. This year we decided to try something different: on December 19th, we will begin distributing free Dream phones to Googlers worldwide.

Q: I already have an Android phone. What happens to my holiday bonus?
These phones are a personal gift. We hope you will put them to good use! Please do not resell them as this is against Google [policy link removed].

Q: Why did we decide to give Dream phones as our holiday bonus this year?
The launch of Android was one of this year's highlights for the company. When the Android phone was announced, Googler interest was extremely high - we had scores of TGIF questions, misc threads, and just general buzz about how Googlers could get a phone of their own. After seeing the amount of interest in the Android phones from Googlers, we agreed that every Googler should have one.

Q: Will all Googlers get phones?
It was a huge task to ensure that the phones would work around the world and we want to thank the Android team and Legal team for making this happen. We're proud to say that almost 85% of Googlers globally will receive Dream phones, including Googlers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Japan.

Q: I'm not getting a Dream phone because I don't live in an eligible country. Do I still get a holiday bonus?
Yes, Googlers who live in countries where it was not currently feasible to distribute Dream devices will be getting a cash equivalent gift in your paycheck in December. This includes people in India, China, Brazil, Korea, Israel, Russia, Argentina, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Turkey, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Egypt, Chile, and Ukraine. For more information, please see [removed].

Q: I do live in an eligible country. Can I opt for the cash equivalent gift instead?
Only those Googlers in countries where it was not currently feasible to distribute Dream devices will be getting the cash equivalent gift. All other Googlers will receive a Dream phone.

Q: Can I resell my phone?
Googlers should not resell any item given to them by Google. Please review our Personal Transactions policy [removed].

Q: Will I be able to take my SIM from my Google managed Corporate Mobile device (BlackBerry) and use it in my new Dream phone?
No, this is against policy and Google could incur significant overage charges. Placing a Blackberry SIM into a Dream device may cause the data plans to be disabled and break data for both the Dream and the Blackberry. Please review [link removed] for more info.

Q: Are there tax implications to this?
Google is covering the taxes for this gift; there will be an extra payroll run before the end of the year to cover the taxes. If you have further payroll or HR-related questions about this gift please email [address removed].

[Valleywagawker]

While Apple reluctantly acknowledged the existence of their kill switch only after it was discovered by developers, Google has been relatively upfront about Android's. They've even laid out plans for reimbursing users whose paid apps (which aren't even available yet) are recalled. And as ComputerWorld notes, a kill switch makes a little more sense for Android, as their applications aren't really vetted in any meaningful way before showing up in the app store.

Retroactive vetting, though, is still vetting, so Android's App Market may be a little more like the App Store than we originally thought. As before, we'll just have to wait for the final verdict on this one from preeminent kill switch expert Stephen Colbert. [ComputerWorld]

I contacted Anders Bylund, the author of the original Motley Fool article that hundreds of stories are citing. I was curious as to how he got these figures and he gave me his rationale.
He cited a Cens.com article that said, "according to industry insiders, T-Mobile is planning to order a total of between 1.5 million and 2 million units of G1 with HTC in the near future, including 400,000 to 500,000 to be sold in the fourth quarter of this year."
Then, Bylund cited T-Mobile selling out of pre-order units, and tripling the number of phones initially available. He then tripled the 500,000 number to get 1.5 million.

Considering the iPhone, which launched in 20 different countries, only hit a million during its first weekend, we all probably should have been a little more suspicious of one phone in one country on one carrier surpassing that. The G1 looks to be a spectacular competitor, but we ought not to lose our heads rooting for its success. [Infoweek]

Sad news, US. we looked into it- by the time we could bring Touch HD to the States, it would be old news. We do have other cool stuff coming.

The G1 is admittedly more exciting, but this thing is set to be one of the best Windows Mobile phones available. Import options will be available sans 3G support, which nobody will want anyway. [Twitter via WMExperts]

When the T-Mobile G1 was shown off in NYC last week, it didn't have the gusto of a Stevenote. There was no "boom!"—no "one more thing!" And as a result, many (including us) felt a bit underwhelmed, and were quick to interpret the device's inconsistent GUI as an indicator that the lack of attention to detail would doom it.

But allow me to remind all of those getting their naysay on this early in the game that we've seen only a fraction of what the G1 can and will be able to do with the open-source Android OS. And when Google's mobile machine is finally humming at full power—with an army of coders cranking out add-ons for the Market, today's skeptics—including some of us—are going to have to eat crow. It's not about pretty icons, Apple fanboys, and its not about business use, Windows Mobile Nerds: its about giving people the true tools to build whatever they want without lame App Store limitations and OS handcuffs. It's about giving phone makers shackled to Symbian and Microsoft's phone OS the chance to build with something different and better and free. And who's going to complain about that?

Back to Apple for a minute: The iPhone has brainwashed us into thinking everything that's revolutionary and exciting in the gadget world needs to be a sex object. Now, I enjoy an Apple hardware brainfuck as much as the next, but a phone is never a better phone because of hardware alone, and Google knows this too. And it will be entering the market at a time when iPhone’s software strategy is starting to show wobbly legs. If you’ve been reading our weekly app roundups, you’ve probably noticed the story shifting away from clever developers doing cool things no one previously thought possible to more about what Apple won't let iPhone developers and users do with their phones. As a result, we’ve seen tons of variety, but not a lot of depth. There are a ton of clever calculator apps of various kinds. There are a ton of games, a ton of flashlights. But in the groundbreaking and unexpected functionality department, all anyone can hear lately is crickets. And Apple's lawyers trying to get the crickets to sign an NDA.

No one else makes a legitimate phone OS with all this support that can be tweaked down to the very roots. For one thing, I'm excited to be able to download an entirely different version of all of Android’s core applications if I don't like the default 1.0 versions—and that’s every app, everything from the dialer to the contacts manager—something that's technically possible in WinMo but often comes off more as an awkward re-skinning and not a top-down integration. I'm excited to add system-level features to my phone for free, and not just apps that are only allowed to bounce around on the surface. These are the benefits that an open platform will allow developers to provide to Android users, and the benefits that Google hopes all mobile phone customers will come to expect from their phones as a result.

This is all banking on the platform being successful, of course, which is obviously up in the air this early on. But would Google mount such a huge undertaking as Android if they were only expecting to be a different flavor of Windows Mobile? That seems hard to believe.

Everyone who gave the G1 a quick run-through last week was in reality testing a product still in beta. Because as we’ve said repeatedly, Android is now in the hands of its developers (from within Google itself as well as third-parties), who will have unprecedented access to all parts of a mobile phone and a centralized distribution network (Android Market) in order to do things that have only been teased until now. It’s all banking on the Market, and its ability to attract grade-A content that will provide even novice cellphone users with many opportunities to greatly customize their phones.

To do this Android will need one thing: critical mass, on both the developer and consumer side, in that order—with each reinforcing the other. Its pre-release may be sold-out, but on October 22 there probably won't be campers and local news crews stretched for miles outside of the T-Mobile store. That's because Google knows who they need to go after first—the developers. The geek community. It wasn't a coincidence that at launch, Sergey Brin came on stage on Rollerblades bragging about his accelerometer phone-toss app that he wrote himself. This first release is all about getting developers into Android, and giving them a similar open dev environment that Larry and Sergey will be the first to tell you they couldn't have built Google without. The iPhone didn't get that until version 2.0, many firmware releases later—and it's still not nearly as open as Android will be. (The iPhone also couldn't reliably hold a call without dropping for many until version 2.1, but that's besides the point.)

Open source has failed many times before, critics will say. Here's why Android will not fail in this regard: governance. Google told us that priority number one right now with Android is setting the standards by which the project will operate—what makes a device Android 1.0 compatible, how often full system upgrades will be offered, and the like. One thing that's fairly evident, though, is that an upgrade path will have to be fairly regimented (closer to Ubuntu’s strict twice-yearly schedule, rather than the “release whenever we feel like it” model found in other smaller projects) in order to keep all of the members of the huge Open Handset Alliance all on the same page. There will be no folks still waiting for their carrier to release Windows Mobile 6.1, years after it was made available. Android will not and cannot operate like this—to keep the Market thriving, all of the developers and users will need to be on the same (regular) release schedule. So, while they're taking care of the problems of being open source, they're also taking care of the same problems that a paid platform like Windows Mobile has.

Google has their eyes on the long haul with Android. Which is why reactions to a somewhat scattered UI in the very first implementation is not something they're worried about too much. This is a platform about further reducing the mobile carriers to raw pipes of data, and giving full control to the consumer. It’s about creating a critical-mass open-source ecosystem. And even if they fail to sell a ton of handsets, they've already put pressure on all the carriers and phone makers by the fact that they've created a free alternative that does not have to win to impact the players in this industry.

Of course, all of these arguments can be debated, but there's one thing that no no one can argue with: You don't take Google lightly.

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T-Mobile branded phones operating on the T-Mobile network may only use T-Mobile SIM cards. To use a T-Mobile branded phone on another wireless carrier's network with a non-T-Mobile SIM card, you must first request a "SIM Unlock" code from T-Mobile. Conversely, if you have a phone from another North American wireless carrier, you may need to request a "SIM Unlock" code from that carrier before being able to use a T-Mobile SIM card on the T-Mobile network.

* SIM Unlock Codes will only be provided after your account has been active for 90 days. Only one unlock code may be provided per customer every 90 days.

Yes, even if you pay $399 for a contract-less phone, you've still gotta have an active account for 90 days to have T-Mobile unlock it.

Of course, as we noted before, if you're just interested in unlocking the G1 you really won't have to worry about this at all: Developers can (and probably will, we're betting within a couple of days after the launch) totally put an unlocking application in the Android Market—it won't be blocked or pulled down. Definitely a prudent and laudable move on T-Mobile's part, since trying to fight hackers on a phone almost explicitly designed for it would be retardo to the tenth degree. See, it really is up to devs to make Android awesome. [T-Mobile G1 Coverage @ Giz]

While I was more impressed by the T-Mobile G1 than I thought I'd be, the list of catches for Android and the phone are quickly piling up—some that might very well be dealbreakers. Topping the list, it's tightly integrated with your Google account—so tightly that you can only use one Google account with the phone. If you want to switch to another account, you have to do a whole factory reset. Update: T-Mobile has patched up some of them—the 1GB cap is gone, and they'll unlock the phone for you after 90 days.

A Googler told us the workaround they've been employing is using a separate IMAP mail app for their secondary Gmail accounts, but that still screws you if you've got calendars on multiple Google accounts—like if you've got a hosted Google Apps account for your site and a personal one, you've gotta pick one or the other. This is a technical limitation of Android 1.0, so it should be fixed in the future, but for now, as someone with a work account and a personal one, it definitely stings.

Contacts and Syncing: As mentioned, there is no desktop syncing app. It's all about the cloud—your Google contacts and cal are considered the masters. So if it's all on your desktop or god forbird, MobileMe, you've gotta move it over to your Google account. At launch, however it'll be able to do remote syncing, so if you make a change or download an app on your desktop, your device will automatically sync up. Still, it'll be open for developers to fill this market, as well as the lack of Exchange support. Whether this is a plus or minus might depend on how you feel about Google being the masterkeeper of your contacts and info.

Video: There's no video playback at all right now, except for YouTube. The expectation is that developers will create video playback apps and the requisite support. That's one of those big holes we worried Google would leave to developers to fill. Same story for video recording. Devs can add it in, though we've heard the video quality will look much better after Qualcomm's video accelerator is released.

Hardware Inadequacies: No multitouch on the G1 and there never will be, since the panel itself doesn't support it. However, Googlers said they expected a full touchscreen device with multitouch in the future. The lack of a headphone jack, though kinda common for HTC devices, is pretty galling, especially for a consumer device. Mini-USB adapters are annoying as hell.

Miscellaneous: You've gotta have an SD card for any kind of music or video playback, once the latter arrives—there's no internal storage for media playback. It's one of two problems we ran into with Amazon's MP3 store, the other being that you can only down tracks over-the-air with Wi-Fi. We'd like some over-3G action.

For all of the choices when it comes to navigation, the fact that you have to use the QWERTY keyboard for all text entry can be annoying, since it involves a lot of flipping the phone around to type if you're navigating vertically. Some onscreen action would be nice, but once again, they're leaving that to developers.

Finally, it's locked to T-Mobile. A Googler lamented that as well since it goes against the openness of Android, but said that in the long run, that won't matter, since there will be a ton of devices. But like everything else, in the meantime, developers can step in and release an unlock app. On the Android market, even. So Android's strengths—and weaknesses—really are as much in developers' hands as they are Google, hardware makers and carriers'. Update: T-Mobile has confirmed they will unlock it for you after your account has been active for 90 days, so this isn't as much of an issue—not that it was huge initially, since devs can and probably will put unlocking apps in the Android Market.

Bonus T-Mobile obnoxious flaw: If you're lucky enough to live in one of the markets sprinkled with 3G, after you've used 1GB of data, T-Mobile will slow you down to 50Kbps for the rest of the month. That's slower than EDGE, which is theoretically capable of 384Kbps, though in real world it's closer to 100Kbps.

I realize that's no doubt due in part to the relative immaturity of T-Mobile's 3G network, but as many times as I had to hear the words "mobile internet" and "future" today in reference to this phone, that's absolutely ludicrous. Especially when you consider that you're paying $25 for 3G data—the iPhone's $30 plan is totally unlimited, and the speed only drops when AT&T's network is sucking a fat one. The implications of this will make themselves more apparent over time as we see more apps populate the Android market and get a better idea of what they're capable of, but it's definitely looking like a large-to-critical pain point, besides just being annoying as balls. Update: T-Mobile apparently realized how horrible this was, and have backpedaled on the cap. Good to see they're listening.

The T-Mobile G1 launched today with a rich feature set, but how does it, powered by the Android OS, stack up against competition from Apple, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile? We pieced together this chart so you can size up the G1 against its competition at a glance. Click through for the image big-sized. And keep in mind that MicroSD cards max at 8GB for the time being, even though some of these phones technically support more.

The long-awaited HTC Dream, the first commercial handset running Google's Android operating system, will be coming to T-Mobile as the G1 for $179 on October 22nd. Featuring a 3-inch touchscreen, internet navigation buttons and a full QWERTY keypad, the smartphone market has finally broken free of Symbian, Windows Mobile and the sweet clutches of fruit companies. Read on for the details, and you can decide whether or not the competition is a good thing.

Features:

Date and Pricing
$179 on October 22nd. (That's with a two year contract.) Unlimited internet with "some messaging" will run $25/month. Unlimited internet and messaging is $35/month. Data plans will require voice plans.

Screen
The G1 sports a 3.17" 65K color touchscreen that runs in HVGA (480×320) resolution.

Battery Life
You can talk for 5 hours, or keep the phone in standby for 130 hours.

Camera
3.1MP, or right around 35mm 4x6 print quality.

Frequency Fun
GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA
850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100Mhz

Dimensions
4.60” x 2.16” x 0.62”; Weight: 5.6 ounces. And available in white, black and brown.

Storage
1GB MicroSD card preinstalled. Supports 8GB MicroSD.

GPS
Of course, what would Google Maps be without it?

Google Maps
As we've seen in a recent update, the G1's Maps application will integrate Street View so you can see where you are going. But in an industry first, a built-in compass orients the map to your position. North is always up!

Android Market
Similar to the iPhone's mobile App Store, the Android Market will allow downloading of various Android apps from the Market, to the phone.

Amazon MP3 Store
Amazon's MP3 store will be preloaded on every G1, allowing the download of 6 million DRM-free tracks with singles starting at 89 cents. Downloading music requires a Wi-Fi connection, previewing can be done over T-Mobile's network.

YouTube
Yup, it's on there.

Other Apps
ShopSavvy: designed to help people do comparative shopping
Ecorio: developed to help people keep track of their daily travels and view what their carbon footprint looks like BreadCrumbz: enables people to create a step-by-step visual map using photos; customers can create their own routes, share them with friends or with the world.

Update: T-Mobile also has a live webcast of the event going up soon, but who knows how many concurrent connections that will hold. Hopefully it stays up, our liveblog definitely will.

• One-click Google search and easy access to all Google Applications - Quick and easy access to the Internet in one click.
• One touch access to Google applications:
Maps (including satellite, traffic and street views)
Gmail
YouTube
Calendar
Google Talk

• Size: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 inches
• Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Display: 65K color screen, HVGA (480×320) 4.6 inches
• Talk Time: 5 hours
• Standby Time: 130 hours

• Expandable up to 8 GB memory

• No stereo bluetooth

• Gmail account required to sign in and use, no corporate access email available

• Required data plan associated with this device; it will not work without the data plan active
• No prepay.

• GPS is confirmed.
• No video capture.
• 3.1 mp camera.

Time will tell exactly how accurate these "confirmed" facts are. Over to you in the comments, chaps: does that make you want the phone more or less? It certainly seems a tempting prospect to me. [TmoNews]