Cupcake Android update coming to G1 in April
By Nilay Patel 
posted Mar 11th 2009 6:47PM
posted Mar 11th 2009 6:47PM
Well, after weeks of speculations and false alarms, it looks like T-Mobile's officially saying the "Cupcake" Android update will hit the G1 sometime next month. That's at least the word according to the T-Mo spokeperson Pocket-lint got hold of -- who went out of his way to disclaim any connection with the upcoming launch of the HTC Magic. In any event, we're hoping all this bake time has fixed some of those bugs and lag problems, but we'll see in a few weeks.
[Via Talk Android]
um......FINALLY. I said it the second day I had my G1. The phone is great. All it needs is an onscreen keyboard for those lazy times I don't want to have to turn the phone landscape and then slide it to type a quick little message. About time T-Mo/Google. About time.
Oh G-d! I think I'm gonna cry.....
I've been waiting for this day and it may finally be coming!
I love you all... and ... and id like to thank all the little people that made this possible.....
I guess this just goes to show that the reason the iPhone gets so much attention is because the phone actually generates comments and views.....
boooooooooooooooooooring
Ok, so now we turn our anticipation to the flash player! :-)
thank you engadget!! man, i'm still stumped about wheather i should go ahead and get the G1 or wait for the second gen...
I re-read the article, and I don't buy it. The article is WAY too vague for starters. It doesn't name anybody in particular, nor does it explain why pocket-lint was told but -NO- other people/sites/etc know anything except for what is already posted on pocket-lint.
It also doesn't do a good job of fact-finding. It says the G1 launched in November. Huh? The official launch day was on October 22, and it was announced in September.
Not only that, but we've already seen some features of cupcake in RC33 (MMS saving, anyone?) And it was my understanding was that some parts of cupcake were a part of Android and not compatible with the G1 hardware, making a full-blown cupcake not possible? We could get some other crumbs or icing like a virtual keyboard or video recording, but not everything... or am I in error on that?
My guess is that the so-called spokesperson was an average joe who ordered theirs on launch day and didn't receive it until November because of a back order. Said individual might even be coding spyware/malware/phishing scam (or even a bunch of nothing to charge people $$) and then launch it on the market in April for the masses to download.
It just seems WAY to fishy to me.
First, if you follow the Apple Rumour community (i do a wee bit), you'd know that getting the name of a person who made the leak is rare as no one wants to get that person fired (i'm sure T-Mobile execs have seen this bit of news since it's been all over the internets the past day or 2). As for why only Pocket Lint got this "leak"...That's not rare at all...Same thing happens with Apple Rumours (MacRumors gets a leak, every blog links back to MacRumors) and i have cell phone service with T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon, i can call any of those 3 up, ask a question, then call back 5 minutes later, get a different answer to the same question....
I agree that forgetting the release date of the G1 is bad reporting, but (and i'm playing devil's advocate here) the person who got this "leak" probably wanted to break the story as soon as possible and didn't want to take the few minutes to fact check on Wikipedia or something (Again, bad reporting, but understandable).
The G1 will probably be getting full-blown cupcake. For one, if it didn't, the community backlash would be INCREDIBLY harsh because even Apple in all their locked-down-ness let you upgrade the iPhone from v1 to v2 without any jailbreaking or hackyness. For two, Google's releases are base code, it's up to HTC (or some other manufacturer eventually) to "slipstream" in drivers for their specific phones, so even donut or eclair (the major versions after cupcake) could support the G1 quite easily.
All in all, i can't see how cupcake can't be rolled out to the G1 and i can't see how it could possibly be released after May, not only from a user standpoint, but from a business standpoint. If the G1 doesn't soon offer at least some of the features that cupcake promises, a lot of people will give up on it and go back to their iPhones and i'm sure Google and HTC and T-Mobile realize that.
I read time and time again "oooo, I need an on screen keypad!". Download ChompSMS or Handcent and there is one ready for you wannabe on screen texters already. I have downloaded both (prefer ChompSMS currently), and therefore my 'desire' to see Cupcake isn't as strong.
Great phone, I really cannot complain about anything so far.....
I agree with JD's reasoning, the smartphone market is getting extremely competitive and Google is not likely to let the G1 one fall behind some of the newer phones coming out this year.
Also what has me sold on this rumor is the fact that the G2 is going to be available within a couple of months which means that most of the cupcake features are ready for prime time. As soon as the G2 was confirmed with touch screen keyboard only, I thought that cupcake would arrive together with the G2 release date.
Flash Player is not necessarily going to come with cupcake. Flash Player is Adobe's game and we will get that at some point when Adobe is ready with it. That rumor mill says it will be later in 2009.
Since I use "QSearch" touch screen keyboard (with auto-rotate) to quick search Google I am not that interested in on screen keyboards. My wish list is Stereo Bluetooth, Video Recording and Flash Player.
I heard that many people complain because video can only be watched in an obscure format. A friend told me to forget about trying to put my .wmv files on a G1 if I get it. My biggest fear is that I will get the G1 now and then regret it after updates or G2 comes out this spring. I'm not so certain that the upgrades will be issued for the G1. I've seen companies say 'well hey you want the next generation of software and upgrades then buy the newer phone' otherwise you are arse-out.
First and foremost, nobody has to worry about getting swept under a rug due to the release of the "g2". The "g2" is called the HTC Magic. It is going to be exclusively available to Vonafone, meaning that they will keep updating g1 for all of their tmobile business until they can release a new phone with tmobile. So don't worry about having your phone wiped into inobscurity just months after its release. It will be a long time until the G1 is replaced. HTC is just trying to broaden their business by having another cellphone company sell their product. They had to do it with a newer android phone because they have contracts with Tmobile for the G1. So there you have it. Your G1 is safe for a long time. Don't always believe what you read in blogs. On a last second note, I did hear as well that the "cupcake" update is to correspond with the release of the Magic. This is most likely so HTC isnt competing with itself between two different cell companies. They are trying to ensure that the g1 and "g2" are approximately the same phone. So until they actually replace the G1 with another Tmobile phone, they will keep updating it so it stays competitive. .............And that, my friends, is the rest of the story. Good-day.
Hello all,
Erica Gordon, the TMo US spokespoerson denied that there would be any Cupcake in April. So, all of this is just a rumor. I, personally, am never trusting pocketlint again.
More info on Betanews. Or just google it.
Matt
What about thows of us that don't want a tuch keybord. I came to the g1 from a htc windows mobile phone. As soon as I saw the g2 would not have a real keybord I could care less about it. Any one that wants to keep the keybord hase to stay with the g1. If thay did not update... well let's just say the iphone falls short of all the fechers windows mobile phones have. There is a free browser called skyfire for windows that will play any and all online videos. When the g1 has that we have got it made. I love my g1 but people don't seem to see that the iphone is not the best out there. If google can keep the setup of the g1 and keep more on the sd with better video suport. And better video recording ( the app g1 has for video recording now sucks) then its all set. O and never need a styles that was y I left my windows moble phone!!!!