T-Mobile promises G1 users will get Android updates

T-Mobile USA denied reports claiming G1 users would not be able to get future Android software updates due to the device's limited internal flash memory.

The issue caught fire after a Google developer who works on Android worried whether the G1 could handle future Android updates. "As much as I'm hoping that it'll be possible to somehow continue updating the G1, I can't promise anything," the Google software engineer, Jean-Baptiste Queru, wrote on Twitter. "We knew that internal flash space was going to be very tight on the G1 and we kept the system partition tight on purpose," he also wrote. According to Phone Scoop [1], the G1 has 71 MB of internal memory.

However, T-Mobile quickly moved to quell concerns that G1 users would be left out in the cold. "We plan to continue working with Google to introduce future software updates to the T-Mobile G1," T-Mobile said in a statement. "Reports to the contrary are inaccurate."

T-Mobile declined to comment beyond its statement, though, including whether G1 users would be eligible for Android 2.0, dubbed "Donut." Donut reportedly will offer users multi-touch support, universal search, text-to-speech, automated backups and a redesigned camera application.

Earlier this summer, G1 users received an over-the-air update to Android 1.5 (also known as "Cupcake"), which added widgets to the home screen to display the user's calendar, a music player and a picture frame. Additionally, users were able to take advantage of video recording, among other features.

For more:
- see this IDG News Service article [2]

Related Articles:
T-Mobile USA delays Android 1.5 update to June [3]
T-Mobile USA debuts myTouch 3G [4]      
Google releases Donut update for Android developers
[5]T-Mobile USA sells a million G1s
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