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For the most part, I LOVE my T-Mobile G1 smartphone. Between its tight integration with most of the Google apps I use – its GPS capability – the way it multitasks so much better when compared to my old T-Mobile Dash – and the way it seamlessly moves between Wi-Fi and EDGE – I’m fairly happy with my G1. I can’t wait to see how the data speeds will hopefully improve once my stomping ground of NE Ohio gets 3G coverage (rumored by the end of this summer).

However, on the cusp of getting the Cupcake upgrade sometime during the next eight days (hopefully sooner than later) – I’m gonna turn from raving to ranting for a few moments. The below article from mobilecrunch.com inspired me to issue a pet peeve list of my own about the G1 and Google’s Android operating system.

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/05/14/13-things-that-bug-us-about-android-cupcake-or-no-cupcake/

Here are the things that drive me nuts on my G1 – and I wish could be changed; these are separate from the list of 13 things (all very valid points BTW) linked to above:

10. Incomplete Bluetooth support – It would be nice to be able to have OBEX file transfer so I could wirelessly transfer files with my PC or to and from other phones. Right now, I can only use a BT headset with the G1. For handsfree calls in my car, I’ve used the speakerphone on the G1 which does a decent job.

9. Having only one mini-USB port – and requiring a specific type of mini-USB cable for data transfer. A regular mini-USB cable can be used to charge the phone – but the data cable isn’t a standard mini USB cable. Without an adapter, only one item can be plugged in at a time. A separate headphone jack (1/8″ or 1/16″) would have rocked.

8. The lack of what one can do via the G1′s mini-USB data cable other than copy files, charge the phone, and output audio. Similar functionality to Microsoft’s ActiveSync software, allowing users to remotely control the phone and sync calendar and email data would be another plus.

7. Doing a soft reset on the phone is a pain. It seems to almost always require multiple attempts to hit the Menu, Send, and End keys to reboot the device.

6. The volume control buttons are way too easy to accidentally push – this is a similar peeve I had with my old T-Mobile Dash. With the latter, I was able to disable the keys. Not so on the G1. When I was using the phone in landscape mode (typing or watching videos), I frequently found myself unintentionally adjusting the volume for the ringer or the speaker.

5. The default web browser should provide an option to import and export bookmarks. Having to manually rebuild frequently visited sites on the browser is a pain. Plus, the default browser when called by other programs should give an option to open new sites in the same window rather than new windows.

4. For SMS and MMS , the convoluted way messages are displayed. It would be nice to just have a simple, chronological, one-by-one listing of text and multimedia messages rather than grouping them by sender. This is most confusing when I get SMS alerts from Twitter and they all group together.

3. The lack of built-in support for widely used file formats such as Adobe Acrobat and Flash and Microsoft Office Word and Excel. Being able to work effectively and efficiently with these technologies would make the G1 and Android OS more of an enterprise contender as a mobile device.

2. The G1′s built-in camera as it stands right now downright sucks. The shutter lags. Its low-light performance is deplorable. The camera’s responsiveness is akin to newly-poured cement. And who was the Einstein who didn’t include video recording in the first iteration of the G1? Plus, lacking the ability to zoom in and out is a major minus. Still photos aren’t bad – when the light’s good and the subject doesn’t move (which makes pix iffy trying to take shots of my wiggly young children). If I had to pick one thing with which I was most disappointed on the G1, hands down it’s the built-in camera.

1. Even more disappointing is the general overall feeling that one can’t tinker with the phone much at all. While the Android Market isn’t nearly as restrictive in terms of allowing or disallowing apps as Apple’s iPhone app store – what more than makes up for it is the way the “out of the box” G1 configuration only allows for a limited scope of customization of the phone’s UI and access to the software and hardware APIs.

It reminds me of when I worked for a company in the mid-90s and the company switched to Windows NT 4 workstations. The system policies were so restrictive that one couldn’t even change screen fonts or desktop wallpaper or system sounds. The level of restrictions on how the G1 can be customized and tweaked without rooting it reminds me of being in kindergarten.

For having an operating system based on Linux and that is supposedly “open source”, not being able on the G1 to tweak things easily is downright annoying. The T-Mobile G1 appears to be destined to be (at least for now) the de facto “geek” choice of touchscreen smartphone vs. the more “chic” iPhone. Why make it so uninviting to play around?

That’s my “bitch list”. YMMV. I realize a number of these issues may or may not be addressed with the imminent Cupcake update and/or with the use of various free and paid apps in the Android Market. These are my impressions after having the phone for a little more than 60 days. Even with these peeves, I still love my G1 and look forward to seeing the OS develop and more ways to use the phone reveal themselves.