This morning I received the Cupcake update for my UK T-mobile G1… and so far I have to say that it’s a great improvement… in terms not just of niggles I had with the last version but also in reference to some of the new tweaks and features that have now been added.
The update took no more than 10 minutes during which my phone was unusable. There was, however, good visual feedback letting me know at least that something was going on. Straight after the G1 had rebooted I clicked on the ‘ToggleBlu’ application icon to switch the Bluetooth off (it is on by default… I’m not sure as to why but perhaps I’m in the minority here) and sadly it failed. I started to dread that the update would break all my downloaded apps… things were not looking too bright. So I started playing with the other Market downloads to see just how they’d react to the new release of the OS.
From that point on everything seemed a great change; all the other applications whether installed by default (contacts, gmail, etc) or third party software all seemed to run fine… and some with some nice new features.
Here is a list of just a few of the key things that I’ve noticed.
- Faster scrolling – perhaps it’s because I’m excited but I do seem to notice an improvement in the scrolling.
- Batch options in Gmail – you are now able to bulk archive, set labels, etc,
- Auto rotate – without any additional software the orientation of the screen can be automated
- Screen animations – some nice ice candy when moving between screens
- Calendar – more control over events and a better “agenda” view
- Improved Camera capture – seems much quicker and has a better interface/interaction with gallery
- Video playback/capture support – I have only played with this briefly but seems pretty good and also supports audio.
- Browser – 1 click zoom to 1:1 option, a “most visited” tab in the bookmarks page
- On screen keyboard – although I really love having a “proper” qwerty keyboard I think for quick SMS creation this may come in useful.
All in all I have to say I’m pleased so far… I’m also excited about the coming of 3rd party widgets too so to sum up… my phone just keeps improving!
UPDATE (08/05/09): Kudos to Andrew Schwimmer who had a fix for the ToogleBlu app out yesterday. Also just noticed a nifty “double tap to unlock” feature when on a call. Looks like “Shake Awake” is no longer needed.
Sounds great!