Very nice…

a. what is the breakup of the taxes and duty cost? What was the custom duty (India side)

b. Also, you missed a very important question: How to get money to buy such a device, in the current economic conditions?

c. BTW, when r u gonna brag about how you bricked your other phone?

a. what is the breakup of the taxes and duty cost? What was the custom duty (India side)

Actually taxes do not apply because the product is shipped from outside India. In the order details, $125.21 was labelled as taxes/duties. So $125.21 is the custom duty. This was paid during the time of order.

b. Also, you missed a very important question: How to get money to buy such a device, in the current economic conditions?

Save money during the uprise to spend it during the downfall

c. BTW, when r u gonna brag about how you bricked your other phone?

You are talking about how I bricked it while trying to upgrade the Windows Mobile ROM with Windows 7 Beta, running inside VirtualBox, running inside Fedora Linux ? What’s more

You said in your first post (Was about to buy an Android)
that you arent sure about the GPS system.

So my first Question is:
Now after using it did you find the GPS system in it? I mean was it only a mistake on the website where they havent listed GPS support or is it really not available in the phone.

my next question is:
What about the support after sale?
In the first post you mentioned that it does not have any support. So does that mean if there is any damage to the phone then there will be nobody to resolve it? I mean it does not have any warranty?

Now after using it did you find the GPS system in it? I mean was it only a mistake on the website where they havent listed GPS support or is it really not available in the phone.

It has built-in GPS (and also accelerometer, which is not mentioned in the online specs)

What about the support after sale?
In the first post you mentioned that it does not have any support. So does that mean if there is any damage to the phone then there will be nobody to resolve it? I mean it does not have any warranty?

It has one year warranty, apparently through HTC. HTC has service centers in India.

So far (thankfully) I havn’t faced any issue to avail the warranty or repair options. I, too, would feel much better if it can be confirmed that the phone can be repaired in India, even if it is a paid service, especially post the warranty period.

In this respect, Nokia rocks in India Right ?

I could harvest some information from the site regarding the warranty. This info is available after signing up at the Anroid Market. These details are long and boring documents, hence not posting it. Have mailed it across to you. Hope it helps

Thanks for a very informative article. Could you shed some light on the following:

1) Is it possible to upgrade the OS in the phone to ensure that applications built on the latest SDKs are supported on the device? I read that the ADP1 ships with OS version 1.0 whereas currently the SDK is version 1.1 and 1.5 soon to be released

2) Regarding the taxes etc, do you have any idea if purchasing within the US and having it delivered to a friend there would eliminate the tax component?

1) Is it possible to upgrade the OS in the phone to ensure that applications built on the latest SDKs are supported on the device? I read that the ADP1 ships with OS version 1.0 whereas currently the SDK is version 1.1 and 1.5 soon to be released

Yes. I myself updated to 1.1 as per the instructions found at http://www.htc.com/www/support/android/adp.html. Similarly it should be possible to update to 1.5 when it is released. Guys out there have already built 1.5 images from sources (though they lack some features, esp. Google Apps). For example: refer to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=462512

2) Regarding the taxes etc, do you have any idea if purchasing within the US and having it delivered to a friend there would eliminate the tax component?

Yes that will save the duty. But you may still have to pay the duty if the phone is caught at the customs when your friend ships it, packaged, to India.

One of my friend’s had to pay Rs. 3000,as duty, to the courier guy when a phone (though not Android) of almost the same price arrived at his place.

[...] charge) + Shipping – I can actually try getting a device as soon as less than 15 days.  I read on Shekhar Govindarajan’s blog that the total cost of his Android G1 (shipped to him in Delhi in 3 days flat, on March 20, 2009) [...]

Shekhar just answered some questions related to the Dev device…

More at http://www.makulabs.com/blog/why-i-might-buy-an-android-g1

> I read that Google had announced that dev-phones won’t be able to access paid apps…

Yes that is true. You cannot access paid apps. These apps don’t even show in the listing/search while using the “Market” app on the dev phone. There should be some hack but I didn’t care to search for it because I do not intend to buy apps (atleast not immediately) after buying such an expensive phone.

> – Would I be able to install Cupcake on the G1? & still be able to access Android market from my handset?

As of now only unofficial builds of Cupcake are available. These are the builds built by hackers/developers out of the Android sources. Besides Market, they lack Google Phone Apps (Gmail, Calendar, Contacts etc,). Hence I did not update to these builds. I’m addicted to Gmail Push and using the phone for my daily personal and business use (my company’s Email is hosted at Google Apps).

Coming to Cupcake, there is no final release yet and hence Google has blocked access to Market. I assume that once there is an official release, we will retain all the goodies (including free apps access but barring the paid apps access). I’m saying this because I have updated my phone from Anroid 1.0 (that it shipped with) to Anroid 1.1 (the official release found at http://www.htc.com/www/support/android/adp.html) and everything is working as before – including free apps access via Android Market but no paid apps access.

> – I’ve read some (rather confusing) threads on using 3G on G1 in India – some frequency issues. Were you able to test 3G on your handset by any chance? A handset which uses the cloud to push/pull information – would really work best with a 3G connection…

No havn’t tried 3G yet.

> – Is the dev-phone, exactly the same hardware as T-Mobile’s G1? Just w/o the branding & unlocked…

Yes exactly the same. It even has accelerometer (which was not mentioned in the specs of ADP1 on Android Market). Oh yes, one difference, it has a nice back cover, kinda artistic, design

> – Was there any problem with the handset that you noticed? I’ve seen lots of iPhones in real, but none G1’s… All I know about G1 is from the web reviews & videos…

No hardware related problems. Software wise, it lacks bluetooth file transfer. I also noticed that while roaming it did not automatically switch networks and instead the radio (phone network) went off. I need to test this more. It could just be a settings issue.

[...] many thanks to Shekhar Govindarajan for writing an excellent post, explaining Android & related costs – in India. Android G1 (though this one is T-Mobile branded) (image courtesy, Gizmodo G1 [...]

Thanks for that excellent post

Now that you have got an Android Dev Phone 1 and played around

I think U can Help me out with my problem

Gmail Activation Problem at the start of using android Dev phone 1

Hi I got my Android Dev Phone 1 Yesterday…..

I tried to enter my gmail account info but it always gives me the error There is a problem communicating with the google servers

I stay in India

I used Airtel

with APN settings Name:airtelgprs.com

APN: airtelgprs.com

other fields blank

when I enter the info and press the sign in button the adb logcat says

NETWORK ERROR

For my Vodafone connection, I entered the same amount of information and it worked. I did it during the start of the phone by pressing the Menu (button) and then selecting “New APN”.

Is/was the GPRS connection working for you earlier i.e. on your other phone(s)?

Hi Shekhar,

This is a really nice thread. Thanks for all the info. Can you answer few of my queries please:

1. I registered on Android Market with my CC though now i want to use my friends CC for purchasing the dev phone, do u think it will be possible ? The checkout page does ask for Car Holder’s name etc. Though i am not sure if it has to be the same card .

2. Where did the phone ship from ? Brightstar does have a office in New Delhi. May be we can buy from them directly ?

Thanks,
Shubham

Hi Shubham,

If I can remember it correctly, it does gives you an option to enter the credit card details again. Just try going with the process – and maybe you can cancel out if you think its going to order from the same credit card…

No idea about Brightstar’s Delhi office though… but I’m sure they won’t be maintaining any local inventory…

HTH…
http://www.makuchaku.in/blog/just-ordered-an-android-g1

–
Maku

Thanks a lot Maku.

Hi Shubham,

2. Where did the phone ship from ? Brightstar does have a office in New Delhi. May be we can buy from them directly ?

Sorry for the late response. Had been busy and was also trying to figure out where the shipment of the ADP1 came from. Couldn’t find the courier cover/details – if at all the cover mentioned it.

Maku must be right, else Brightstar must not charge for the shipping.

1. I registered on Android Market with my CC though now i want to use my friends CC for purchasing the dev phone, do u think it will be possible ? The checkout page does ask for Car Holder’s name etc. Though i am not sure if it has to be the same card .

As far as I can recall you can use different credit cards for Android Market and while buying ADP1. While buying ADP1 you are prompted again for the credit card and the address details.

Looking forward to your experience with the shipping and with ADP1. All the best

How did you order for this phone – i mean thru website or phone.

How did you make the payment- Wsa it thru credit card

Our company wants to buy the phone and hence wanted to know the process for the same

How did you order for this phone – i mean thru website or phone.

Thru Website. Please refer to one of my earlier blog post named Was about to buy an Android for the details.

How did you make the payment- Wsa it thru credit card

Credit card

Our company wants to buy the phone and hence wanted to know the process for the same

This blog post and the earlier one – Was about to buy an Android – should give an overview of the buying process. All the best!

[...] India. But then I saw that the custom duty had come down to $51.81 (it used to be $125 earlier, see this post). I decided to order it directly, because the saving in custom duty/shipping was not so great to [...]

Thanks for this informative article; it was of great help to me before I finally decided to order my own dev phone.

The customs and shipping costs seem to have come down drastically since the time you ordered it. The total cost to me was $506.

I’ve written more details about my own ordering experience here:

http://www.biskoot.com/2009/10/ordering-the-android-dev-phone-in-india/

- Ketan

Hi Ketan, good to know that my article helped you, in your buying decision. Have fun with your new toy!

You may like to refer to http://developer.htc.com/adp.html for upgrades

Hi,

I’m new to Android development and have a very basic question before I make this decision of whether to buy ADP1 or Buy some HTC Android devices here in India right away. So Can any one of you please help me understand why should one go for Android Dev Phone 1 and not the HTC phones based on Android platform right away?

Thanks,
Sameer.

Two reasons for ADP1:

1. ADP1 is hardware unlocked (besides network unlocked). This means you can change the entire OS or Firmware of the phone with your own ROM. Think about changing the text of the splash screen (when the phone boots) from Android to your name

2. ADP1 is shipped rooted. This means when you switch on the phone, you have root access to the phone’s hardware. This means you can easily test and install apps which modify the underlying OS (Linux). A classic example is the Andorid tethering app: http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/

Thanks Shekhar for prompt reply. But apart from ability to play with the entire OS of the phone what does it help for a third party application developer like me?

Also suppose if I make some app which I develop and test on the ADP1 device with some tweaks on the OS, how am I going to distribute such application to end users?

I mean if to make something unusual which required me to tweak into the OS itself, My application wont work on end users Android devices untill they also install the same tweaked OS that I have on ADP1.

And because I’m going to develop third party apps for end users and not just for me, I believe I could also test the app on some other Android device (Which I wont have to import from other country like US) and would work the same if it comply with Android OS versions produced by google not me.

I might be wrong, but surely not getting any compelling reason to get the ADP1 imported from US while I can buy some HTC Android based phones right here in India.

I would appreciate your kind suggestions, please help me understand the need of ADP1 device for developing third party applications meant to run on any Android device world over.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Sameer.

Actually ADP1 may no longer be suited for your requirement because, so far, it seems, Android 2.0 (the latest) may not be available for ADP1.

If you had asked me these questions a couple of months back, i would have said the following:

Thanks Shekhar for prompt reply. But apart from ability to play with the entire OS of the phone what does it help for a third party application developer like me?

Android updates from 1.1 to 1.6 were available for ADP1, quite quickly, after their release. Whereas T-Mobile users had to wait longer. This means you have earlier access to test/develop your apps on the latest and the greatest.

Being able to flash the ADP1 with compatible firmware – even one from another cellphone manufacturer is a plus. You may then test your apps with customizations done by different manufacturers.

As said above, even though Android 2.0 may not be available officially, its possible that 2.0 is released (though nothing so far) by someone like Cyanogenmod http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ Such releases are likely to support ADP1, if not other phones. Henceforth you can test your app with the latest features which will run on upcoming or latest phones.

Lastly, you will get more developers’ support on ADP1 via forums etc.

how am I going to distribute such application to end users?

Android apps are distributed (to any and all phones) via Android Market http://www.android.com/market/

The non-availability of the Android 2.0 update for ADP1 is a real minus which should affect your buying decision. But you may (if you can) wait for a month to see any update on this.

[...] since I ordered and got my Android Dev Phone 1 (a.k.a. ADP1), I have been taking it through various updates. The [...]