The wait is over, G1 owners – the successor to the Android phone that (pretty much) started it all is finally here, and it’s available on T-Mobile: the T-Mobile G2 is out in the wild and available to order. T-Mobile had to take down pre-orders for the device due to overwhelming demand, but you can pre-order again now and head to your local T-Mobile store to see if they have any in stock (they likely won’t.)
Still, the G2 is likely the single Android device on the market with more Google apps and services stuffed into it than any other, partially because of Google’s partnership with HTC, and partly because Google is looking to the G2 to become it’s de-facto replacement for the Nexus One, what everyone had up to this point referred to as Google “flagship” phone for Android fans and developers.
The reviews of the G2 are out as well, and they’re largely positive, noting heavily that Google has loaded this puppy with tons of apps and features….that you can’t uninstall if you don’t want them. That amounts to bloatware; even if it’s from the company that made the OS and not the wireless carrier. Additionally, rumor is brewing that if you try to root the G2, it’ll reboot itself and auto-install stock Android back on itself to keep you from having root-level access to the device. It’ll only be a matter of time before that little problem is fixed with a custom app, but in the interim it looks like Google wants a little more control over how this device is used than previous Android devices.
It’s important to note that while we all love Android (myself included,) and lots of people tout it as a truly “open” mobile operating system, that openness is only really to the extent of Google’s will and desire to keep it open. If Google decided one day to clamp the jaws shut on Android, they could – and would have every legal right – to do so. They won’t, most likely, but it will be interesting to see where they go from here, and whether the control exerted over the G2 becomes commonplace on Android devices.