T-Mobile G1 gets update, Cupcake still half-baked

G1 to get handy update - though not long-awaitied Cupcake
G1 to get handy update - though not long-awaitied Cupcake

G1 Google phone users champing at the bit for the long-awaited Cupcake update to Android will have to wait a little longer, T-Mobile announced today.

The Android refresh promises tasty sugary treats like an on-screen keyboard, accelerated browsing, support for A2DP stereo Bluetooth, tactile feedback and video recording.

However, the Cupcake launch - originally touted for mid-January - is still a "work in progress" according to T-Mobile, with no fixed release date.

OTA update coming soon

Instead, G1 users will get an over-the-air update at some time during the next two weeks, fixing some of the more irritating Android bugs.

The snappily-named 1.1 RC33 should stabilise email and instant messaging, and stop the G1 from freezing up quite so often.

There are a few new features on offer, too. Users can now check for updates manually, and save images arriving as MMS to their SD cards.

The biggest new feature is Google Voice Search, which allows you to, well, search Google by talking instead of typing. This arrived on the iPhone back on November, so the G1 is still very much in 'catch-up' mode.

Finally,the over-the-air update also includes Google Latitude, a new feature of Google Maps for mobile that lets you see your friends' locations and status messages on a map or in a list, share your own location, and quickly communicate with friends via text, IM or phone.

Mark Harris is Senior Research Director at Gartner.