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Remember Disney's Aladdin? In it the genie, voiced by Robin Williams in top form, summed up his life beautifully when he erupted in magic and light, juggling the planets themselves, booming aloud "Tremendous cosmic power!" He then shrank down beside the little lamp and squeaked "Itty bitty living space."

Such is the destiny of the T-Mobile G1 as well.

The dust has settled around the reviews for the T-Mobile G1 and the phone actually received its first "update" in the form of a security-related patch last week. We'll get into that patch in a moment. First my impressions of how the reviewers received the phone and its capabilities.

A Good Start
The phone succeeds as a first go at an Android phone and all reviewers have said that OS revisions and Marketplace applications for the phone will make it truly shine in the future. There are complaints about the stock software loaded on it, but none too serious, and different reviewers appreciate the screen and slide-out keyboard differently. The phone design itself didn't overwhelm any of them -- something I'd agree with just from a visual point of view -- but the OS seemed quite fast and responsive and for a 1.0 OS in some cases beat out the usability of Windows Mobile, at least up until the recent 6.x releases of Windows Mobile. One big standout success on the phone -- something highlighted in the Engadget Podcast -- is the Notification system. It's something that is apparently extensible by Marketplace apps which should produce some very exciting innovations in the always-connected applications space.

As an Android phone the T-Mobile G1 promises to be the most open telephone platform in the United States, perhaps with the exception of the OpenMoko phone I've read about. But as a phone backed by a major cell carrier the G1 has a chance to have a noticeable effect on the mobile data space. Based on Engadget's coverage of the launch here are my impressions broken down as a brief set of pro's and con's.

I'll go with the good news first, then the not-so-good news.

+/- $179 2-year-contract G1.
+ $399 contract-free G1
+ Tethering allowed, but monitored.
+ Amazon music store integration.
+/- Data plans had 1GB limit, under review.
- Data plans are a bit much: $25 for 400 msg, $35 for unlimited.
- No headphone jack, must use proprietary dongle instead to connect headset.