Android OS 1.5 ported to the G1 - Google says "Market is closed"

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Android OS 1.5 ported to the G1 - Google says "Market is closed"
Who said Cupcake is not released yet? Okay, it isn’t, but there is now a completely reliable way to get all those much-wanted goodies, such as an on-screen QWERTY, video recording, updated browser and more. The story is that a user, nicknamed haykuro, has managed to port the HTC Magic’s software, version 1.5, to the G1. Side by side with the folks at XDA forums, the advancement of the project continues with more bug fixes.

Here’s the moment to introduce you the two available versions of the port: the G line (meaning Google-sourced) and the H line (from HTC-sourced). What’s the difference? The biggest difference by now is the fact that Google has actually blocked the access to Android Market for the G ROMs. One theory is that the company has done this, because a G1 with the Android 1.5 version has been detected as an HTC Magic phone, so it wanted to limit such devices until the Magic has been officially released. Or… the other possibility that comes to our minds – the companies want to keep sales up. As the users have become tired of waiting for the promised Cupcake update, they have thought of their own ways to get the features, even push it one step further! Then how come Google’s bunch of contributing developers was unable to deliver the much-needed features in such a long period of time? If these guys are so slow every time an update is needed, then this whole open-source initiative is totally senseless. Maybe we are just missing the idea – the companies might be as well holding Cupcake’s release until the Magic is finally on the market. Why? Well, what does the Magic have that the G1 doesn’t? On-screen QWERTY, video recording, updated browser… Exactly, the Magic will not offer almost anything new in terms of hardware. Even the QWERTY keyboard has been removed. That is why Google has decided to cut the access to Android Market for “rooted” G1s after a few days of usage - in order to give you a reason to buy the Magic. Users report that it is still possible to use the storefront with the H builds, so just go ahead and don’t forget that we would like to know what you guys are thinking on the matter.

You can download the latest version of the port here.

T-Mobile G1 Specifications | Review

HTC Magic Specifications

source: Haykuro’s Blog, xda-developers via BGR

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