(Cupertino, Calif.) Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that Apple will finally add multitasking to the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Third party developers will be able to program their apps to run in the background.

Apple also announced a new advertising platform for developers called iAp. Ads can run inside applications with video and interactive features.

Music and navigation in background

During the press conference held at Apple headquarters this morning, Jobs invited Pandora CEO Tim Westergard on stage to show that Pandora online radio can play in background while other apps are running. Jobs also announced that the iPhone users will be able to pick up internet phone calls from Skype and voice applications that can run in the background. The iPhone will also support background GPS navigation so you can be using a navigation program while talking on the phone or doing other tasks. Apps can ask for your location but the new operating system will give users the choice on an app by app basis.

Apple is also adding background notifications for third parties including a new service called local notifications that doesn’t require a server. Apps can running on phone can notify you from the phone

Task completion: Some apps, said Jobs, take awhile to complete tasks, but with the new OS, they will be able to do things like uploading photos in the background even after you switch away from the program.

Folders: Apple will make it easier to organize apps by creating folders on the iPhone desktop. Just drag one app on top of another and it makes a folder. It automatically names the folder but you can rename it. This can be extremely useful for people who have a lot of apps. I sometimes have trouble finding Apps on my iPhone’s home screen.

Enhanced Mail: Apple will offer a unified inbox so you can have multiple email accounts with all incoming mail in one inbox. You can also have multiple Exchange accounts and you can move between multiple inboxes if you prefer. It will also be possible to organize mail by thread. Apple has also added the ability to open mail attachments with apps. I wonder whether this could lead to security issues of the possible spread of malicious code via email.

iBooks will be added to the iPhone similar to what is now on the iPad. Of course it’s long been possible to read Amazon Kindle books on iPhone.

There are some features for enterprises including email encryption and better mobile device management tools. Businesses will be able to distribute custom apps wirelessly from their own servers. Apple has also added support for Exchange Server 2010

Game Center: Apple is adding a social gaming network. You can challenge your friends or find others to play with you. There will be a leader board to see how you’re doing compared to others.

iAd: iPhone will have an adverting platform for developers. Some aps now have ads but Jobs says most of the time “it really sucks.” He said that the iAd feature will be a more elegant solution. Jobs says that most people are using apps rather than a search engine on iPhones and sees apps, not search as the best way to deliver ads. He said that the average iPhone user spends over 30 minutes a day using apps. Apple, said Jobs, wants to improve the quality of ads to make it easier to deliver an “emotional advertising”as is now possible with TV. The goal is also to be even more interactive than web advertising. Today when you click on an ad it takes you out of the app which keeps people from clicking. With iAd they will deliver interactive video content without taking you out of app. Jobs said that there is “an opportunity to make “a billion ad impressions a day” which he says is a “fairly large number.”

Apple will sell and host ads and give developers 60% of the revenue. Jobs showed off a prototype of a Disney Toy Story ad (developed by Apple, not Disney) that includes a game, posters and video. It’s very interactive., You can even buy games from within the ad. Jobs calls it “an example of a new kind of mobile ad.” When you’re done with the ad, you click an “x” can go back to the ap.

This notion of apps being more powerful than search for delivering ads is kind of a dig at Google. Jobs said that the iPhone is the first time in history where there have been so many (185,000) aps on the desktop. He says that’s not true with personal computers and accounts for why user behavior is so different.

Apple plans to release the operating system to the iPhone and iPod Touch users this summer and for the iPad in the fall. Some features, including multitasking, will not be available on first and second generation iPod and iPhone devices.

By Larry Magid

I picked up my iPhone 3G S at the Palo Alto store early on launch day, Friday morning, and after several hours of testing, I’m impressed so far.  Not only did I find it a lot faster than the 3G for loading applications, I also quickly came to appreciate its new video capabilities and its voice control.

The new phone looks virtually identical to its predecessor. And, since Apple just issued a free update of the iPhone operating system for previous iPhones, many of the new features are also available on first and second generation iPhones and even the iPod Touch (iPod Touch users will have to pay $10 for the software).  But there are some things you only get with the new hardware.

For example, with the 3G S and the older 3G side by side, I launched several applications. AOL Radio, Facebook and Safari all loaded about twice as fast on the 3G S.  There is technology in the new phone that will use AT&T’s faster HSPA 7.2 megabit data network but that network isn’t yet available. Nevertheless, I still found web surfing in Safari to be noticeably faster on the new phone compared to the 3G connected to the same WiFi or cellular network, presumably because of the new phone’s faster processor.

You can talk to it

I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but I’m falling in love with the Voice Control feature in the new phone.  To call someone in your contact list you simply hold down the home button and say “Call Dave Smith” (or whomever).  If Dave has multiple phone numbers a voice will ask you if you wish to call home, office, mobile, etc.  You can also use this to dial a number by simply saying “Dial 555-1212” and it will dial for you.  Without even having to click the iPod icon, the feature can also be used to “play songs by” play “next” or “previous” song, turn on shuffle  or play  particular playlist.  When in the main screen I said “shuffle” and the phone told me that “no music is playing, do you want to play music now.” When I said “yes” the music started. Available commands are displayed on the screen when you’re using Voice Control.

Improved Camera

One of the most heralded new features is the improved camera. It’s been upgraded to 3 megapixels and now has autofocus.  If you touch the screen a rectangle shows the focus area.  Most important – the 3G S can now take video which you can easily email or upload to YouTube.  The video is standard definition — not high def – but you can shoot either in portrait or widescreen landscape mode.  Once you’ve completed your shoot, you can trim the beginning and the ending. That’s not exactly sophisticated video editing but it’s very useful.  You can then send the video as an email or upload it directly to your YouTube account.

My first video won’t win any academy awards but you can see the 43 second clip I shot from the Apple store below.  Unfortunately, I shot this before learning that you can get better results holding the phone in landscape mode.  If you scroll down you’ll see my second video which was in landscape mode.

A sense of direction

At first I wondered why anyone other than a hiker would care about the iPhone’s new compass until I tried pressing the compass button within Google maps and noticed that it orients you based on the direction you’re moving. I’m sure other application developers will also find a way to use this feature.

What all current iPhone users get with iPhone OS 3

As I said earlier, some of the features on the new phone are also available on older iPhones with the free OS 3 upgrade.  These include (finally) the ability to copy, cut and paste, a wider landscape keyboard in mail, messages, notes and Satari and the ability to search across the phone for contacts, mail, calendars, notes and iPod content.  There is a also a nifty new Voice Memo application that – like the video app — lets you trim the beginning and ending of your audio.  Although it’s not positioned as a professional tool, I found the quality good enough to use for radio clips.

Worthwhile upgrade?

Clearly the iPhone 3G S is a worthwhile upgrade but, if you’re already an iPhone user, it’s hard to say whether the extra speed and new features are worth the extra price, especially if you’re in the middle of your AT&T contract and have to pay a premium over the standard $199 for the 16 GB model or $299 for the 32 GB version.  And, now that the older 8 GB  iPhone 3G has been reduced to $99, some people might want to buy that inflation friendly model which has many of the same features at a more affordable price.   Still, compared to the competition – including Palm’s new Pre – the iPhone 3 GS is a good value and a very innovative product.

And here’s the second video I shot with the iPhone 3G S. It’s an interview with Shervin Pishevar of SGN who developed a new online piloting game for the new iPhone operating system.

This post was adapted from an article that appaered on InternetNews.com

There’s great news and not-so-great news when it comes to smart-phones. On June 6, Palm released its $199 Pre — a worthy competitor to Apple’s iPhone. Two days later, Apple announced its faster and better iPhone 3G S starting at $199, and slashed the starting price of its current iPhone 3G to $99.

The bean counters at Apple’s many competitors are no doubt working their spreadsheets trying to figure out how they can reprice their products to compete. But if you shop around, you can already find various models of the BlackBerry, Samsung BlackJack and other smart-phones for as little as $49 — or even free — with a two-year service contract.

So, is there any reason we shouldn’t all jump for joy in celebration of this grand new age of cheap and super-powerful phones? You bet there is. Smart-phones may be cheap to buy, but they’re not cheap to use.

Like those adjustable mortgages that got so many people into trouble, smart-phones are easy on the budget to acquire but major financial sinkholes over time.

The real cost of a cellular device has never been what you pay for the hardware but what you pay to use it on a monthly basis. Like King Camp Gillette, who popularized the safety razor, the cell phone industry long ago figured out there is profit in “giving away the razor and selling the blades.” That’s been true for years, but with smart-phones it’s even more true because of data and text-messaging plans.

That $99 iPhone will cost you a minimum of $70 a month to use, but probably a lot more.The cheapest voice plan is $40 a month for 450 minutes. But if you use your phone the way most people do, you’ll probably need to spend $60 for 900 minutes, $80 for 1,350 minutes or maybe even $100 for unlimited nationwide calling. You’ll also pay $30 a month for the mandatory data plan whether you want it or not.

So now your bill is somewhere from $70 to $130. But wait — you still have to pay for text messages.

Without a special plan, outgoing and incoming text messages cost 20 cents each. So if you’re going to send or receive text messages, you’ll need to pay $5 a month for up to 200 messages, $15 a month for 1,500 messages or $20 a month for unlimited messages.

According to a recent Nielsen study, the average American teen sends about 2,500 text messages a month in addition to the number they receive. So if the phone is for a teen or an adult who texts like one, there’s no choice but to pay $20 for the unlimited plan.

Do the math and your AT&T bill is somewhere from $90 to $150 a month. And if you’re a heavy user, you had better opt for that higher figure or you might wind up like my poor son, Will.

Fresh out of college, Will bought himself an iPhone earlier this year and was shocked that his first AT&T bill was nearly $200 because he didn’t get the unlimited plan. Once he upgrades to that plan, his annual contribution to AT&T will be $1,800 plus taxes and regulatory fees. That’s a lot more than most American commuters spend for gasoline in a year.

Of course, no one forced him to buy a smart-phone. But given the lifestyle of most young adults, it’s rapidly becoming a necessity. Like a large and growing percentage of his generation, he doesn’t have a land line. And because of his nomadic lifestyle (he’s a musician), he needs to be able to get his e-mail on the fly. To him and many like him, trying to get by without a smart-phone and an unlimited plan would be like living in Los Angeles without a car.

Verizon Wireless pricing plans are roughly equivalent to AT&T’s. Sprint, which provides service for the Pre, some BlackBerrys and other smart-phones, offers a $99 “Simply Everything” plan that covers unlimited voice, data and text.

One of the reasons I hope the Pre does well is to put pressure on AT&T and Verizon to lower their prices. But even Sprint’s relatively good deal costs $1,200 a year, which is more than I paid for my first apartment after college.

One justification for these costs is that there is limited bandwidth for data — and, indeed, iPhone users have been known be heavy users of AT&T’s data network. Another justification is the enormous investment cell phone companies have made for their infrastructure, including the faster “4G” networks that the carriers will roll out over the next few years.

But those new networks will also have much bigger capacity. That could enable companies to lower prices but they may simply take bigger profits.

Intel co-founder Gordon Moore once famously predicted that computing power would roughly double every two years, a prediction that became known as “Moore’s Law.” After watching my phone bills grow over the years, I offer Larry’s Law.

It’s this: The cheaper things are to buy, the more they cost to use.

The smart phone wars have heated up over the past few days with the release of Palm’s new Pre and Apple’s announcements of a new iPhone, a cheaper price for its existing phone and a new operating system for users of all iPhones.

The Palm Pre, which hit stores on Saturday for $199 after rebate (and a two year contract with Sprint) is a very worthy competitor for Apple. Unlike the iPhone it has a physical keyboard which, while a bit small, is quite good. But it also has a touch screen that you can use to launch programs, zoom, shrink or move windows and dial the phone, although there’s no onscreen virtual keyboard for entering text.

One of the things I like best about the Pre is that you can synchronize it over the air. Rather than connect it to a PC or Mac to move over contacts and calendar items, you simply sign in to your existing accounts and it brings over all the data via the Sprint network. It works with Google’s calendar and Gmail, Yahoo and other web-based services as well as for businesses with Microsoft Exchange servers. Apple does this through its $99 a year MobileMe service but Palm does it for free with a variety of services.

Like the iPhone the Pre has a media player for video and music and it does come with a cable to move music and video files from a PC or Mac. But rather than write their own synchronization software, Palm encourages users to synch their media files with Apple’s free iTunes software. When a Pre is connected, iTunes thinks it’s an iPod or iPhone. I’m not sure what Apple’s legal department will have to say about that, but if Palm can get away with it, it makes life easier all around.

I also like the way Palm organizes windows. The device’s Web OS operating system is multi-tasking so you can run several programs at once but to make the most out of the Pre’s small screen, each program runs in a “card” and all the cards become visible when you press the Pre’s physical button below the screen. You then use your finger to flick from card to card and just touch the card you want to make full screen. To close a program you simply flick the card up and away.

You can dial the phone by punching numbers on the onscreen keyboard or typing them from the physical keyboard but you’re more likely to just start typing the name of the person you want to call so the phone can look up and dial the number for you. That’s also the case with the Blackberry, iPhone and most other smart phones.

I like the Pre a lot but I do have a few complaints. It’s a little sluggish – not terrible, but enough so I notice slight delays. And while it’s relatively user-friendly, it’s not as friendly as the iPhone. I find myself having to think about what to do and occasionally having to type “help” to bring up the cheat sheet, whereas with the iPhone I don’t recall having hardly any learning curve other than getting used to the iPhone’s virtual keyboard. Except for typing on the screen (which I’m still not 100% comfortable doing), it just seemed to be obvious right out of the box.

There are some things I like better about the Pre than the iPhone and the opposite is also true so, on balance, if you had to buy a smart phone today, I think the Pre and the iPhone are pretty much neck and neck. But wait – Apple isn’t sitting still. Not only did the company on Monday announce a new iPhone, it also announced free software that will upgrade existing models.

The iPhone 3G S (which I haven’t yet tested) is said to be faster than the existing 3G, have much better battery life and come with a 3 megapixel camera that can also record video. It will come with twice the memory for the same price: $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB, up from 8 and 16. The Palm Pre comes with jut 8 GB. Also, Apple reduced the starting price of its existing 3G phone to $99.

Apple says that the phone will load applications faster and take advantage of upcoming planned speed improvements in AT&T’s 3G network. Apple also says that the new phone will have better battery life including up to 5 hours of 3G talk time or 12 hours if you’re on the 2G network. The new phone’s 3 megapixel camera will also have autofocus and an automatic macro mode for close-ups. The big news is that it will record video with software that will let you easily send or post the video. Though lacking in the Pre, video is pretty common on phones but the new iPhone lets you edit video from the phone which is very cool.

Catching up with the Pre (and most other smart phones), Apple’s new operating system, which comes out on June 17th, will upgrade all iPhones with cut, copy and paste features.

Simply based on memory configuration, the iPhone hardware is now less expensive than the Pre, but it might cost you more to use it. Sprint has some pretty aggressive pricing, including a $99 “Simply Everything” plan that covers unlimited voice, data and texting. AT&T bas a $99 “Nation Unlimited” plan for voice but you must also pay $30 for the data plan plus an optional $20 for unlimited text messages. Before buying a phone, check out the carriers plans to see what makes sense for your usage patterns.

Unlike the Pre, Blackberry and most other phones, the iPhone doesn’t have a removable battery which is a problem for existing phones that sometimes run out of juice during a single day. If Apple delivers on its promise of better battery life that will be less of an issue but I still like being able to carry extra batteries just in case.

The new iPhone will be available June 19. Expect long lines at Apple and AT&T stores. The Palm Pre is available now. There aren’t long lines at Sprint stores, Best Buy or other retailers, but there are shortages.

Anyone with an iPhone or an iPod Touch can now download the Amazon Kindle for iPhone application and use the device to read electronic books.

I tried the application on both an iPhone 3G and an iPod Touch, which worked in exactly the same way. You can download the free application from the iPhone App Store.

The first time you run the application, you’re asked to enter your Amazon account information. In my case, because I had previously purchased books for a Kindle I reviewed last year, the books I bought back then were archived and immediately available for me to download to the iPhone. Even with a 3G connection, that process took quite a bit longer than it does with a Kindle, but after a few minutes, one of my books was available to read.

Amazingly, Amazon kept track of the page I was on when I last read it on the Kindle more than a year ago, and took me right there. I was able to go back to the beginning or any other portion of the book. Clicking anywhere on the screen brings up the Kindle icons, including one that takes you to the table of contents, another for adding a bookmark, and one for adjusting the size of the font.

Of course, most people who download the application aren’t likely to have used a Kindle and probably won’t have any purchased books in their archive.

Can’t buy books from app
Unlike a Kindle, you can’t purchase a book directly from within the application. For that, you have to go to Amazon’s Web site either from a personal computer, or by using the Safari browser on the iPhone or iPod. Browsing for books on the iPhone’s browser isn’t as pleasant as doing so from a Kindle, but it’s certainly doable.

Given a choice, I’d prefer to use a browser on a personal computer, which works as long as you’re signed into the same Amazon account you use with your Kindle iPhone app.

Although the experience of buying and downloading books isn’t quite as easy or fast as on the Kindle, it’s nevertheless OK, but reading a book on an iPhone or iPod Touch isn’t as good as it is on a Kindle.

Battery and screen
To begin with, the screen is much smaller, so you’re not going to see nearly as much text on the screen as with the Kindle, which means a lot more flicking of your finger to change pages. The good news is that the next page shows up instantaneously.

Another issue is that the iPhone and iPod have a backlit display that makes reading a very different experience than reading on the Kindle’s reflective screen. Bright sunlight will wash out the screen, but even indoors, the screen is harder on the eyes than the Kindle or Kindle 2′s screen.

Unlike the Kindle 2, which is designed to run for days or weeks between charges, an iPhone battery will die after a short period of time, which could be a deal killer, if you want to read an entire book on an airplane or other location, where you don’t have access to an AC outlet.

While the application makes it possible to buy and read books on an iPhone or iPod Touch, it is quickly obvious that the device that’s so good for watching video, listening to music, and talking on the phone isn’t all for reading a book, especially compared with the Kindle.

But, as imperfect as it is, it’s a good thing that iPhone and iPod Touch users now have access to the more than 240,000 e-books previously available only to owners of the $359 Kindle. And like Kindle owners, they can now purchase New York Times best sellers and most other new releases for $10, which is generally a lot less than the cost of a printed book.

I’m quite certain that a lot of people will try out this application, but I’m not convinced that people will like it nearly as much as people who own a Kindle. It could actually wind up boosting Kindle sales because if you do buy books to read on an iPhone, and don’t like the experience, you can always download them to a Kindle–once you shell out nearly $360 for a device that truly is optimized for reading books.

A postscript after a few hours of reading on the device
After writing my first impression of Kindle for iPhone, I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my iPod Touch aboard a flight from Palm Springs, Calif., to Dallas. After reading several chapters of a Lincoln biography, I have to admit that the reading experience was better than I expected.

I still think that the iPhone and iPod Touch aren’t as good for reading as a Kindle or a paper book, but once captivated by a compelling story, I quickly forget about the device itself and just enjoyed the book.

The smaller screen indeed means more page turning, and at first, I was annoyed by the backlit screen, compared to the crisper and more paper-like reflective Kindle screen, but when I turned down the brightness, I found it easier on my eyes as well as easier on the battery.

While I totally agree with CNET’s Nicole Lee that the Kindle is a much better choice for reading on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I do see a couple of silver linings to reading on an iPhone or an iPod.

First, you’re more likely to have the smaller and more ubiquitous phone or music player with you. The Kindle is a bit big to fit into a pocket, and unlike an iPhone or even an iPod, you’re not very likely to be carrying it with you at all times. With an iPhone or iPod. you’re much more likely to have your books with you when you find a few minutes to read.

And because my iPod Touch also houses some of my favorite music, I was able to listen to music as I read, though the albums I have on my device aren’t really that good as background music for reading.

Maybe that’s a business opportunity for Amazon. It could hire people to pair music and books, just as culinary experts pair food and wine. And, if you already own an iPhone or iPod Touch, the money you’ll save by not buying a Kindle could buy you quite a few books and songs, along with a few meals with some pretty decent wine.

For the past week I’ve been carrying around the T-Mobile G1 – the first phone to run Google’s Android operating system. While I’m not gaga over Google’s first phone, I am generally pleased about its consumer friendly features and ease of use. Still, it has that “1.0″ feeling to it, a good start but still a bit rough.

The phone, which is manufactured by Taiwan-based HTC Corporation, will be available from T-Mobile starting Oct. 22 for $179, with a two year contract.

Like the Apple iPhone, it features a touch screen (3.2 inch) to easily launch applications but there are also five dedicated buttons, including very handy menu and home buttons, plus a trackball.

If you want to make a phone call while holding it in portrait mode you can bring up an onscreen dial-pad, but if you want to enter text – perhaps to respond to an email or access a web page, you have to turn the phone on its side and slide out the physical QWERTY keyboard.

I like having a physical keyboard – the lack of one is my major complaint about the iPhone. The keyboard is okay, but I prefer the extra travel you get when pressing keys on the Blackberry Curve. Without a backlight, the G1 keys are hard to see in the dark.

When you slide out the keyboard, the phone goes from portrait to landscape mode but it doesn’t do that just by moving the phone.

I’m surprised and disappointed that it doesn’t give you the option of also bringing up an onscreen keyboard for typing text. Seems to me they could have offered that along with the physical keyboard but perhaps that will be corrected with a software update or a third party application.

And therein lies the real promise behind this phone. Like the iPhone, there is an icon on the main screen that brings you to an application store (it’s called the “Market”) where you can download applications provided by independent developers.

So far there are only about 40 such applications, compared to thousands for the iPhone, but if Google is successful in evangelizing Android, it’s safe to assume that a lot more applications will be forthcoming.

Unlike Apple, Google and the cell phone carriers have said that they will permit virtually any application – even if it competes with the economic interest of those companies. For example, there is already an application called iSkoop that lets you make free or inexpensive international and domestic calls using Skype. Warning to merchants – my favorite application lets you use the phone’s camera to “scan” a product’s bar code to look up reviews and comparative prices.

The G1 comes with only one gigabyte of memory compared to eight gigabytes for the $199 iPhone or 16 GB for Apple’s $299 version. However, the G1′s memory is on a removable microSD card, making it very easy and reasonably affordable to expand the memory up to 8 gigabytes now and, probably, 16 or more in the future. An 8 GB card can be purchased for about $25.

As you might expect, the G1 comes with a dedicated Gmail and Google calendar application where your mail and calendar are always in synch with Google’s web-based applications. This can be extremely convenient if you regularly use Gmail and Google calendar on your PC or Mac, but possibly a deal-breaker if you’re not a Gmail or Google Calendar user.

There is another email application that works with other POP3 and IMAP email accounts but, so far, not Microsoft Exchange mail which is used by many companies.

Unlike every other smart phone I’ve used, the G1 doesn’t come with software to synchronize your calendar or address book with a PC or Mac, which could be a big problem for many people but not for those who already use Gmail or Google Calendar. Microsoft Outlook users can get their data into the G1 by first using free PC software to synch with Google’s web applications.

The phone does come with a USB cable to transfer music or photos between the phone and a PC or Mac. Unlike Apple products, it uses the same standard Mini-USB connector as the Blackberry and many digital cameras. You can also charge the device from a computer’s USB port.

The interface is pretty intuitive. You get a relatively sparse home screen but you can reveal all of the applications by tapping or dragging a tab on the screen. There are actually three main screens that you move between by flicking in an iPhone like gesture. You can bring up a menu to add any application or icon to any screen by holding down your finger for a few seconds. It’s not intuitive but it’s easy to use once you figure it out. Like the BlackBerry, but unlike the iPhone, you can make a call by just typing the person’s name from the home screen.

The G1 has the second best web browser I’ve seen on a phone – almost as good as the iPhone’s. The G1′s browser does let you use your finger to move about the screen and you can zoom in or out by taping on a plus or minus icon. That’s not bad, but not as good as using two fingers to pinch and zoom or contract an image on the iPhone. When you’re in the browser you can press the menu to bring up screens to enter a URL, search, set a bookmark or switch to a new browser window. This is a pretty versatile browser for a hand held device.

There is also an Instant Message program that supports AIM, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.

The phone does have GPS and Google Maps. You don’t get turn-by-turn directions but I was able to easily use the map application to help me find an address on a recent car trip. You can view the map from street or satellite view.

The G1 does have a music player and it comes with a stereo headset that connects to the USB port. Unlike the iPhone and the consumer oriented BlackBerries, there isn’t a standard audio jack. I think that’s a real shame especially for people who like to use higher-end headphones, plug music players into a car stereo or, like me, tend to lose headsets.

I’m told that an optional adapter is available but that’s one more thing to buy and possibly lose. Although it supports Bluetooth headsets for talking on the phone, it doesn’t support stereo Bluetooth music headphones.

In addition to transferring music from a computer, you can purchase songs via the Amazon MP3 store. The songs are unencrypted and you can copy them from the G1 to a PC or Mac by connecting the two devices with a USB cable and dragging the file as if between disk drives. There is no synch program like iTunes.

If you’re a YouTube fan, you have plenty to watch but that’s it when it comes to video. That’s a glaring omission which, I hope, will be remedied by third party developers.

The G1 phone works on T-Mobile’s high-speed G3 network as well as its slower Edge network. I found G3 coverage in most, but not all, parts of the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas where I tested the phone and I was pleased to be able to get coverage, albeit a bit slower, at several car stops between the two cities on U.S. 101 and Interstate 5.

Depending on use, the battery typically gave me between about 3 and 4.5 hours of use but, unlike the iPhone, the battery is removable so heavy users can bring along a spare.

T-Mobile’s $25 data plan includes unlimited email, web access, 400 text messages and Google Talk access. For $10 more you get unlimited text messages and instant messages. Both plans give you access to T-Mobile WiFi hotspots. You’re also required to have voice plan starting at $30 a month.

Bottom line: The G1 is an excellent phone but lacks a bit of the fit and finish of the iPhone. It’s easy to use but not as intuitive as the iPhone. I like it a lot better than any Windows Mobile phone and – for consumers – it competes well against the BlackBerry but doesn’t bury it. It’s definitely not ready for corporate use.

Of course, this is only the first of the Android phones. Google’s Open Handset Alliance includes many carriers, including Sprint and cell phone makers LG, Samsung and Motorola. Over time we’ll see a lot of choices including phones with different form factors than the G1 as well as new applications.

Still, if you want to be among the first to play with Google’s entry into the phone application market, the G1 will serve you well.