With T-Mobile scheduled to release the first Google Android based phone, the HTC G1 / HTC Dream in the US on Oct 22nd, and in the UK on Oct 30th, how long will it remain in the shadow of Apple’s iPhone?

With that being the question on everybody’s mind, we take a close look at the G1.

The upcoming T-Mobile launch of the G1 Google smartphone, which was made by HTC and designed by Google, will for the time being remain in the shadow of the iPhone. Our first impressions leave us feeling that the HTC hardware and Android OS could have used just a little more polish prior to hitting the streets, but overall left us feeling very good about the direction Google is taking with its Android OS.

While unpacking the G1 we immediately noticed that the cables we found in the box appear to be just like the cables you would find packaged with any other cell phone, and sort of made us feel like the phone was boring before even getting the chance to use it.

The setup process we were guided through was simple and well-designed. We found it odd that the setup process completely skipped any WiFi setup, instead defaulting to use T-Mobile’s 3G network, which is not currently available here in our area.

Many of the reviews we previously read gave us high expectations of the G1 hardware, but after playing around with it we realized our expectations were somewhat higher than what the G1 turned out to be. The G1’s partially rubberized case feels comfortable in the hand, but the details seem to be lacking.

We quickly noticed that the display portion of the phone wobbles slightly and does not lock firmly into the open or closed positions. The phone does feel good when held with the screen closed in portrait mode. HTC fit 5 buttons and a trackball into the bottom area below the screen.

With the screen slid open the bottom part of the phone with the five buttons is slightly raised and tilted, and makes the right hand side of the keyboard slightly irritating while typing. With all letters and numbers available, as well as the welcome additions of keys for period and the @-sign, the keyboard turned out to be quite nice. Other than the dedicated Google search key, the keyboard reminds us of the one-letter-per-key BlackBerry.

We found the ports and buttons spread around the phone, with the volume up/down buttons in the upper left side of the phone in portrait mode, the compact USB plug is located at the bottom, and camera button is located in the lower right, and the microSD slot cover is part of the way hidden when the phone is closed.

We found it upsetting that HTC decided to stick to their proprietary USB audio connector rather than adding astandard headphone jack. The earbuds that are packaged with the G1 have good audio quality when listening to music, and come equipped with a rectangular box on the cable with a volume level control, a button to use to controls call and music behavior, and a built in microphone.

We put the G1 to some typing comparison tests with the iPhone, and found it much easier to type on the G1 keyboard than it is with the iPhone’s glass keyboard.

The initial brightness was set to 35%, and was obviously set low to conserve battery life. We found YouTube videos far more attractive after raising the brightness all the way up.

We are very happy with both the built-in camera and the built-in speaker. The speaker is load and produces decent sound. We felt the built-in 3 megapixel camera produced sharp, high quality photos even when taking the pictures just a few inches from the subject.

T-Mobile chose to include a 1GB microSD card with the G1, whice is used to store music, photos, and other items, but compared to the built-in 8GB and 16GB storage of the iPhone, T-Mobile should have spent a few more dollars and sprang for at least a 4GB microSD card instead.

We plan to review the G1 a little further soon, but for now if you feel like previewing the Android OS you can head over to the T-Mobile G1 Emulator to try it out yourself.