We've included lots of hardware-only feature we want to see, but also on our list are improvements to Android that could be made independently of any phone. But with Android, phone makers can customize and modify the distribution that shows up inside their phones, as long as its done responsibly and in a way that allows future stock updates to still apply. We'd love to see HTC put some innovation into Android for the G2.

As we've said several times before, Android will only be as good as the developers making software for it. And so far, due to a lack of market saturation and a number of small to significant obstacles (many of which we're proposing fixes for here), we haven't seen that developer community take off. Here's a list of features we could see on the G2 that could go a long way toward changing that.

• Better Battery Life: For God's sake. Please. One of the G1's most crippling shortcomings is its horrific battery life, and the fix will have to go beyond simply squeezing in a more dense Li-ion cell (although that would be nice too). No, the root of the problem needs to be addressed—namely, Android's power-hogging connection management, and the G1's inefficient 3G and wi-fi chips. Whether it's primarily one or the other or a combination of both, HTC and Google need to sit down and get this right, because a mandatory lunchtime charge just to make it through the day under standard use is totally unacceptable.

• A Smooth, Consistent UI That's Skinnable: One of our major gripes with the G1 (and Android in general) was a lack of consistency across its UI. Sometimes a long-press pulls up a contextual menu, sometimes it selects something, sometimes it does nothing at all. Graphically, the OS itself could use a bit of polish in several places, although the fundamental design vocabulary we're OK with. Thankfully, Android is flexible and open source, and HTC is totally capable of bringing its own UI improvements to the stack as a whole, or offer them only on HTC phones.

HTC already has experience in re-skinning mobile operating systems, and even though TouchFlo isn't that great sitting on top of Windows Mobile, it does look pretty, and placed on top of Android's decidedly more solid and competent foundation, a slightly tweaked graphical UI—that still stays true to Android's fundamentals—would be cool to see.

• Sexy Hardware: The shots we've seen look great and all, but we want an Android phone that's really going to wow us. We know HTC has it in them—they've given us blue balls a-plenty with the Euro-only Touch HD. Let's see some high-end hardware—be it an ultra-high res screen, a slick form factor, anything—to get the blood pumping a little.

• Better Media Handling (and a F@#&ING 3.5mm Headphone Jack!): Android's media apps feel half-assed. People now expect to have a fully functioning PMP built into their phone—that is one area where the iPhone truly pushed things forward. And while the G1 will never work natively with iTunes (prove me wrong!), it can do a lot better with their media apps. By adding video playback, for one. And maybe better playlist management, and an overall sexier look. And of course, almost above all else: a 3.5mm headphone jack. DEATH TO DONGLES!

• Ditch the Qwerty Keyboard: My opinion is not mainstream, as many companies and studies have cited general public favorability for physical keyboards over touch—but touch keyboards, done right, are the future. I have yet to play with the soft keypad found in Android's forthcoming "Cupcake" OS, but if it's good enough to fluidly handle texting and light emailing, that's all i need. This will allow for a much slimmer profile for the hardware and a more intuitive (and less schizophrenic) control setup. Word from the source of the leaked G2 images is that the QWERTY has in fact been ditched, but with no side shot, we can't tell yet for certain. Hope so.

• Front Camera/Video Chatting: Google Talk already can handle video chats easily via its web interface and standalone app; why not bring it to the phone for the first truly mainstream mobile video chatting package, which could be a killer app? For that we'll need a front camera (something we don't see clear evidence of in the spy shots).

•Built-in Flash Memory: We are oh so happy that the G1 has an integrated microSD card slot for added storage flexibility, but built-in memory ensures that we don't lose access to images or music if we need to switch SD cards.

• Add Multiple Google Accounts: Another huge crutch for the Google Accounts integration is the ability to only use one account at a time, and the fact that you have to perform a full phone reset to switch. That's ridiculous. Not only do we want to use the superior Gmail app interface with our work email (which also uses a Google Account for Domains), but we don't want to have to wipe everything on our phone to change accounts. A smart interface for living with multiple Google accounts on your phone would solve all of this.

•Give Users the Option of Desktop Sync: Only being able to use Google Contacts was a huge, huge pain when I first set up my G1. I had never used that system, so I had to figure out the best way to get my OS X Address Book contacts into Google and then into my G1. But I'm still wading through dupes and contacts I don't want on my phone, which I'm too lazy to fix because it's not intuitive. And if it's not intuitive for me, God help the average Joe.

• Wireless File/Media Sync: As a corollary to desktop sync, let's go crazy and make it wireless. This will be another leg-up on you-know-who, and even if it's just for media and file syncing, the ability to easily pair my phone to my PC via Bluetooth or, better yet, auto-detecting wi-fi to transfer files back and forth would be great, and one less cable on my desk.

• System-Wide Multitouch: We know for a fact it's possible. And we also know Google is scared of potential litigation from Apple. But until Android adds multitouch as a core service for every app developer to utilize in creative new ways, it won't be a cutting edge platform.

• Android Market Tune-Ups: There are two major problems with the Android Market right now—there is no easy way to manage updates, and there is no way to browse through the available apps via the web, or any place other than on your phone. As for upgrades, apps can phone home to an upgrade server, but all that usually brings is a notification to go download the updated app manually from the store. And as far as the lack of a Market web interface, this is a problem for a lot of people—the developers who don't get any exposure, the potential G1 buyers who want to browse what's available, and, frankly, the press who publicize the apps and don't want to waste precious time wading through a lousy interface to find apps. These are both Android-specific problems, but let's hope some improvements here come hand in hand with the G2's launch.

More:
• Android G2 Photos: Thinner and No Keyboard
• T-Mobile G1 Google Android Phone Review

• Faster Network (3G). The original iPhone wasn't 3G when it launched last year thanks to various issues, two of which were cost and battery life. 3G chips now have increased battery life and lower costs compared to what was out in 2007. It's no 3G iPhone if it doesn't have 3G.

• Cheaper. Apple's already dropped the price of the phone once. Let's see them do it again. With component costs down and Apple capable of using just about the same parts (other than a 3G and GPS chip plus more memory and upgraded processing) as the first version, there's probably some slack to be had. AT&T can also help subsidize the cost down to $199 levels if Apple were to put even more measures in place forcing people who buy phones to sign up for AT&T (and not run off with it to other countries to be unlocked).

• Unlockable and Jailbreakable. Just because the SDK is coming doesn't mean we don't still have a need to jailbreak our iPhones. Jailbreak, for one, because there are still many apps worth using that Apple will frown upon. Unlock, for two, because T-Mobile users and other countries still don't have native iPhone support. Apple will actively fight the unlockers and jailbreakers, but we hope the hacking community prevails in the end.

• Better Battery. The iPhone's battery isn't bad, but if you talk a lot, use a Bluetooth headset, or theoretically use 3G and a GPS, that battery's not going to last a day. Out of all the features a next-gen iPhone can get, an improved battery is the one that will be felt by everybody.

• GPS. The current cellphone triangulation location system is fine, I guess, but it's no GPS. Even if Brian doesn't want it, I do. Place it into a dock that's specially made for your car (places the phone up in your eyeline, charges it, routes audio through your car's speakers) and it'll be as good as a regular GPS. If you're lost on foot, whip it out and locate yourself. It's not as good as a dedicated GPS, but it's good enough that most people won't know the difference. Hell, GPS manufacturers are already scared.

• Improved camera. The current 2-megapixel shooter is decent in ample light, but falls to Ewe Boll levels of visual atrocity when it comes to shooting in low-light. Maybe a flash? Maybe just a better sensor? We want to be able not have to move everyone next to a window to take a shot. Or ripping lampshades off your fixtures. Or bringing a Maglite to bars. While we're at it, why not some digital image stabilization.

• Front facing video camera. AT&T's 3G video calling (video share) service is not so good right now, mostly because it's only one-way. Two iPhones with two front-facing cameras, beaming video to each other like a webcam chat on your desktop would be amazing, and it would go along way into mainstreaming video calling. This would go over well in other countries where video calling is slightly more popular, despite Nokia's reservations.

• MMS and video recording. The iPhone's gotten its multi-recipient SMS feature (something many reviewers docked points off for in their initial reviews) added after the fact, but video recording and MMS sending is slightly more difficult to pull off. We want the 3G iPhone, with its beefed up processing power and improved camera, to give us a feature that's in just about every decent smartphone in the last few years.

• Flush headphone jack. No more lousy adapters just to get our headphones into the headphone port! This should have been the way it was in the first-gen iPhone.

• More storage. The launch storage size of 4GB and 8GB was pretty tiny, and the current 8GB and 16GB is usable, but not great. I'd like to see 16GB and 32GB options in this generation, gradually growing to 32GB and 64GB by the next iteration, and so forth until we can keep our whole computer backup there by the year 2015. Seeing as the iPhone is THE one device you want to carry with you everywhere, you'll need more and more space to shove those pictures, videos and music files.

• Cut, Copy and Paste. We'd like to take content from a website or email and paste it into a form or the address book or a text message. Apple has smart tech that allows you to click on phone numbers in web pages in Safari and call them, but moving general info between apps has been impossible. This is really a no brainer. We need cut, copy and paste in the iPhone.

• Automatic 3G Management. To deal with the battery suck of 3G in the iPhone, I'd love it if it automatically turned on only for active browsing in Safari, watching YouTube videos, looking stuff up in Maps and downloading music from the iTunes Store. For background checks on Mail, Weather and Stocks, it should toggle down to 2G.

• Stereo Bluetooth streaming. Bluetooth audio streaming hasn't picked up in the mainstream on devices because it's just another piece of tech that can run down your phone's battery, but given the iPhone's iPod-ness, it it makes sense to also pipe A2DP stereo music through that BT connection.

• Over the Air Sync. I like Apple's tethered sync system, which also gives you an opportunity to charge your iPhone using your PC. What would also be cool is a secure over the LAN Wi-Fi sync, a la Apple TV and Zune, so you can charge your iPhone in a dock or something but still sync data. Likewise, a PDA-type over the air sync would be great over 3G when you're in the wild. This would skip over all the audio and video stuff, but would keep your calendar in line with .Mac, or your home computer—and also back up any changes you've made on the go.

• Better Reception and Voice Quality. The two are related, but not 100%. Switching an AT&T SIM between a Blackberry, Palm, Sony Ericsson and iPhone shows the iPhone's voice quality to be the weakest. The current iPhone also randomly drops all bars in the middle of calls for Brian Lam on a very consistent basis. Reception is not good on the iPhone. But even when Brian has full coverage, the people on the other end of the line sound like they have marbles in their mouths. I'm sure this is Apple just learning the ropes in the cellphone game. I mean, you might poke fun, but have you heard the reception and call quality on a RAZR?

• A CDMA iPhone For Sprint and Verizon. Look, we know it's not going to happen because of AT&T's exclusivity deal, but half the people in the US wish the iPhone were available on Sprint or Verizon or Alltel or Nextel.

Of course, Apple probably won't put all these features into the 3G iPhone because of two reasons we can come up with. One, they most likely want people to have an upgrade path, and two, they need time to develop these to a usable state. In essence, you should pick a handful of features here that you really want and hope those are those are the ones Apple will put in.

- A reinvention of the TiVo box that doesn't associate so strongly with cable and broadcast TV.
- BlackBerry to know we mean them no harm and to actually work with blogs.
- For writers around the world and at Giz to stop picking on Motorola and Microsoft without due cause. I mean, the RAZR is a decent phone, even it's not in style anymore. And Bill Gates is curing the malaria epidemic! I guess OLPC needs a reprieve, too. But not as much as Microsoft.
- Apple iPhone, three fricking words for you: Cut, Copy, Paste. And reception. And Video. (That's 7, I guess.)
- True unlimited plans for international data roaming from cellphone carriers. They could just trade credit instead of gouging each other and passing the price rape onto travelers.
- Cable to go a la carte or die. Glad all the really good TV is available on IP anyhow.
- The new 3G iPhone's power management to be smart enough to turn off HSDPA during simple email DLs.
- I like the Apple TV's ability to transfer purchases and rentals to my iPhone and laptop; wish it played DivX.
- Really, really, really kick-ass Android implementations that have major differences in software. And not just stores to sell apps/ringtones/games/wallpapers, you greedy carrier son of a bitches.
- Mac support for the really well-made Zune hardware/firmware/software.
- Waterproof/rugged/outdoor cameras with appropriately beefy straps.
- Firefly Season 2?
- Microsoft's E&D culture and process spreading through the company!
- To be cast as an extra in some nerdy movie or show. I'll be an ensign, or one of the Others! Or a guest appearance in a Pogue video. They're so good!
- Wired blogs to get their own URLs.
- Palm to do a really cool consumer OS they can brag about.
- Windows Vista: XP Edition. (Made with not more code, but with a Machete)
- Engadget links to Giz.
- Psystar to magically get their shit together (technically and legally) and make a good run at the alternative Mac market.
- For the winter: A bountiful snow season come next winter and a 2009 bi-turbo Audi S4 with the 4 wheel vector Quattro system. Snow plow! And a lib tech Banana snowboard.
- Wii Fit to acknowledge that I am not overweight, I just have big legs.
- Apple Keynote secrets that stay secret until their proper unveiling.
- For peace between Giz and CEA. (Lots of entertaining questions about the prank coming from the Brazilian press on this trip.)
- Proper swimming lessons.

I think my list was a lot longer last year, but I think that after almost drowning today, I'm just glad to be breathing, glad to have great readers like you all, smart and entertaining writers and a job I like enough to engage in on my day off. And hey, I'm on a beach in Brazil, so it's hard to think about tech. Life ain't bad.

Here's what we mean. Look at your entertainment system. If you're like us, you might have a TiVo (or a provider-branded box), a gaming system, a DVD player, a high-def DVD player a Slingbox and an AppleTV. Why do we need all this crap? This is what we want in a set top box:

• HD DVR Functinality. For example, a TiVo or a Windows Media Center box's video recording capabilities.
• DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray playback. All in one.
• Gaming. Throw an Xbox 360/PS3/Wii in there and we've got ourselves a date. Oh, and we'll want PC gaming as well.
• Slingbox-style broadcasting. Have this box stream to every device you own, be it PSP, iPhone, Windows Mobile or a laptop.
• On Demand. Make it friendly with your cable provider's content.
• Format Agnostic. Want Apple's movies? Done. Want Amazon's movies? Done. Want Netflix's movies? Done. Make it play back content from every digital online store.
• Friendly interface. Everyone loves the TiVo interface, but let's take that an expand it to encompass every sort of media you could want to play back on this miracle box.
• Plug and Play with other devices. Got a Zune that you want to play back music from? Just dock it into the box. Got a camera you shot an hour of footage with and want to watch? Plug it in.

We suppose the closest thing to this box is an actual PC, so you could get a kind of reasonable approximation if you stuck a Mac or a Vista HTPC machine to your TV. It wouldn't have all the features, and it wouldn't be nearly as friendly as we want, but that's why this is a wishlist.

• Xbox 360 support: How about streaming content from your Zune onto your 360 via Wi-Fi? How about watching content you've downloaded or rented from your 360 with your Zune on the go?
• iTunes Syncing/Compatibility: This is a long shot, but it would be fantastic for people who had either an iPhone or an iPod to be able to manage both their Zune music libraries and their Apple music libraries in one place without re-importing their stuff every time.
• Kill the 3 Play Limitation: You know what we're talking about. At the very least, let's up it to 10 plays.
• Playlist sharing: Think of sending a digital mix tape to your friends
• More codec support: OGG, FLAC
• Kiosk downloads: That old rumor about hearing a song at a store (say Starbucks) and immediately being able to download that song to your Zune via a kiosk.
• Wi-Fi Music Store: Not a huge priority for us, but it's somewhat cool.
• Gaming: We know it's not coming, but being able to play some puzzle or arcade games on the Zune—especially multiplayer ones with other Zunes over Wi-Fi—would be great.
• Zune Phone: Again, a while off, but imagine all the Zune sharing features but nation-wide, over the cellular network.
• Audible support: As of now, the new Zunes still don't support Audible. It's not that important to us, but some people enjoy books on tape.

What do you want to see?

Wired has a piece on core animation, the developer animation suite that will make regular apps sparkle.

Also, Computerworld is predicting an alliance between Apple and Google to incorporate some of Google's web apps into .Mac. That should make loyal users of the stagnant .Mac platform happy. Or at least content enough to keep shelling out for that @mac.com address.

Here's our wishlist.

• Tight integration with iPhone. There's going to be iTunes and iPhoto integration for sure, but let's get some stuff like proximity detection, auto-file system syncing, auto-syncing of Mail, Safari, and even remote control of your Mac from your phone over Wi-Fi. Heck, why not make it a super fancy remote when you're watching AppleTV or FrontRow.

• A better Finder. Better known as FTFF. For something that integral to everyday usage, that thing sucks.

• Native Windows apps like Parallels. How about Apple just buys Parallels and integrates their development right into the OS? That'd be something.

Those are the big three. How about you? What would you like to see in Leopard? – Jason Chen

While the dust is still clearing from yesterday's All Things D (as in Digital, Damned, Drowsy, completely Delightful and even Dildonic at times), the best news for me has been Jobs' announcement that Apple is planning to open the Mac OS X Messiah-phone to developers. To achieve their need to balance security and openness, my guess is that they will follow more or less the iPod model: controlled distribution of Apple-certified, high-quality apps through a secure channel like the iTunes Music Store.

The question is: What current third-party Mac OS X applications would you like to see adapted to the iPhone? Which of them would actually reach a greater potential in the iPhone and become killer applications?

My wishlist and your own suggestions, after the jump.

Here are my Top 5 picks for the iPhone, according to coolness factor and personal preference.

5. ScummX. Pushing Guybrush Threepwood around with my finger? Aye aye, Sir! Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and the Indiana Jones series will work great with the iPhone touchscreen and resolution. That would be reason enough for me to buy one. And a three-headed monkey.

4. MacMAME. Like number 5, the Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator is the ultimate productivity enhancer. Hundreds of outstanding classic arcade games that will also work perfectly on the iPhone just adding simple on-screen controls. And you will be able to play Galaga and the original Donkey Kong vertically. Doesn't get any better than that. (I will also put here a Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation and SNES emulator.)

3. Voice Candy. Brilliant voice processing application that will work great to record messages and leave voice mails. The interface is almost perfect for the iPhone as it is. Fun stuff.

2. Delicious Library. I guess Apple will integrate something similar to this amazing DVD/Book/Videogame database to make the iPhone work with the Apple TV and Front Row, but in the meantime, I want the Delicious Monsters to do their job.

1. Autodesk SketchBook Pro. Being a pixel-pusher, I would love to see an adaptation of this simple painting package. Thanks to Marking Menus, this one will work great on the iPhone and it will be really fun to play with. For some people, Autodesk should also sell a custom-made stylus (simulating the finger electrostatic charge) for even finer control.

I know that this is not representative of everyone, so please add your own suggestions in the comments and we will make a poll with all of them later. Except for Striptease Touch-me Poker. That doesn't require any poll. – Jesus Diaz

So what do I want for a present? Oh, so nice of you to ask! You don't have to get me anything. I have what I need. Buuuut....since you asked, there are some things I'd really, really like:

I'd like an interview with Steve Jobs, where...

all we do is talk shit about Windows, play Breakout, and smoke weed. Let me convince you, while you're high as a kite, that the iPhone should be open for for apps/widgets, 3g, and should have an iTunes store on the handset. And HD on iTunes. And no more AAC DRM, ever. Man, Steve must have some really, really good weed stashed in his cupboards.

I'd also like a Pony. Specifically, a Ferrari.

I'd also like an Interview with Bill Gates that is actually a wrestling match. And if I win, he has to build an operating system that doesn't crash more than once a month, or have annoying security pop-ups. I'll be Ricky the Steamboat Dragon, and he can be Macho man Randy Savage. To be fair, we'll play Xbox after. PGR like he likes, and we'll make fun of Apple's "spearhead" into the living room. El-oh-El. (Thank you Charlie White for the reenactment above.)

I'd like the first iPhone review, ahead of Mossberg, ahead of everyone. By 10 days. Nah, 30. One for each year of my life. A nerd can dream, can't he?

I'd like Sony to put all their engineers on a bus, knock 'em out with sleeping gas, and ship them to an island to fight, like in that crazy Japanese flick, Battle Royale. The strongest, smartest and most creative engineers that are still alive should go on to form a spin-off company dedicated to making a true iPod competitor under the Walkman moniker.

I'd like it if someone made a goddamn smartphone operating system that you can install stuff on, but isn't for douchebags in suits. I mean, have you used Windows Mobile 6 yet? It's like they took the turd that is Windows Mobile 5 and polished it.

I'd like all the tech publications I know to band together to boycott craplets on PCs. I only want them to provide us with a chance to opt out for a clean build. And Linux, for God's sake. Offer it!

I'd like it if Engadget would link to us. Come on, guys. Just one link!

I'd like it if TiVo would make up with Netflix and allow high-def downloads to the Series 3. And Netflix, while you're hedging your bets, offer a plug-in for Media Center downloads, too.

TiVo, please make a cheap HD Series 3.5 Junior Edition? And do me a favor and add a YouTube GUI.

Hello, Zune Phone team. I know you exist. I'm watching your every movement. In my mind. Please don't fuck this up. Don't let those Windows Mobile dweebs tell you what people want. Zune is pretty good. Fight back against their request for Microsoft PowerPoint compatibility.

I'd like a Gundam suit with live-blogging capabilities including a keyboard rest, a couple of EV-DO modems aggregated together, built-in video, photo capabilities, Slurpee machine, tissue box for nosebleeds I get from the stress of this job, plus the live video capabilities of Justin.tv.

Powerline Networking, you're awesome for streaming HD video across the house, but don't give me this shit about using power strips. Face it—I'm NOT giving you your own socket.

Wii, you're cute, and popular, but don't get cocky. You need games. And you need them fast.

Fuel-cell batteries for laptops today, and laptop bottoms that don't scorch our penises.

A Yamaha Surround Sound Panel that is short enough that it doesn't block the bottom part of a table mounted flat-panel.

I'd like it if Slingbox sold a little Sling chip to every video gadget maker. I want to Sling video from a Comcast box, and TiVo, directly from an Ethernet port, not from another box. The chip could have a remote control interface, so no more IR blaster, too.

I'd like the blank front page on phones to die. All phones should have that Nokia active rest screen chock-full of data and controls. A phone is not a digital picture frame with a reception icon in the top right corner.

Midnight embargo lifts are dumb for your level of exposure, and they ruin my social life. Peak news should hit at 8 or 9 a.m., EST.

Media Center PC with two CableCARDs under $1K. Come on, guys. Give yourself a fighting chance in the living-room DVR wars. You can win this!

CableCARD installs that users can do themselves.

That's all, really.

Have I missed anything? – Brian Lam

The first official clone experiment in 1995-97 was going so well, and then Steve Jobs swooped in and killed it by raising the licensing price of the operating system and ROMs to impossible levels. And that de facto ban is seemingly here to stay. As late as last year, Apple VP Phil Schiller declared, "We will not allow running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple Mac."

Now, Apple can do whatever it wants. The company can carelessly delay the introduction of new Core 2 Duo processors by a couple of months, and there's a captive audience that will sit there and wait. Mac notebooks, no longer worthy of being called laptops, can fry users' laps, and Mac users have no recourse. Apple can charge whatever price it desires; everyone will pay. And where are the Octo-Macs? We've been testing and playing with the 8-core PCs for six weeks now.

Let's toss out a few ideas, and get some comments.

Let Apple make its hardware money with iPods, and let the clones return, bringing forth more innovation and letting people modify their Macs the way it's commonly done in the PC world. Suddenly, the nearly-infinite variety of PC hardware would be open to the Mac OS.

Sure, Apple can continue to sell workstation and laptop hardware, and if it's so great, it will continue to dominate. But let the free market decide how good the Mac hardware really is. Apple has undoubtedly excelled with iPods; and it would probably survive in a competitive market for its workstation and notebook hardware as well.

On the other hand, maybe Apple is in the catbird seat right now, with its hardware able to run Windows XP, but not reciprocating by letting the Mac OS run on PC hardware—at least not in any official sense that would let diverse hardware manufacturers in on the fun. This is a good situation for Apple, but not necessarily for OS X users.

Hackers and do-it-yourselfers are already unofficially running Mac OS X on Wintel hardware. But let's see an officially-sanctioned Mac clone marketplace where OS X and Microsoft Windows Vista can compete head-to-head, and let the competition between hardware vendors sort itself out. That would be a sure-fire way to finally get out of the quagmire of a sub-5% market share for OS X. – Charlie White