I thought I’d share my impressions after the first week of full-time use of the brand spanking new Google phone, the G1. I was lucky enough to meet Rich Miner, co-founder of Google Android at Poptech last week, who graciously provided our Foundation with a test unit.

Android is extremely well integrated with all the Google apps,  Gmail in particular being a blast to use on the phone – none of that irritating wait for POP mail retrieval that made me want to hurl the iPhone into the nearest trash can.

Unfortunately, as with the iPhone, the battery life is not what you would call awe-inspiring. Normal use with some occasional browsing results in a flat battery after half a day on the road. This is one area that Nokia simply crushes HTC and Apple – the E90 can easily run 2 full days without even trying.

Now that the Android app store is finally open for 3rd party developers, it will be interesting to see how the applications compare to Apple’s App store. Downloading and browsing for apps is very simple, although there are some fairly strange applications on display.

Our foundation is looking to build a prototype Android application for TxtAlert, the HIV/Aids medication and appointment reminder system. Anyone know great Android developers?

Last week, after almost a year of development, we launched Project Masiluleke at Poptech 2008. The first phase launched on the 1st Octber with a text message information campaign run in conjunction with one of South Africa’s biggest mobile networks, MTN. We are inserting HIV/AIDS messagies into a million Please Call Me every day informing people about HIV and how to get tested. THis is an approach we pioneered with SocialTxt last year to great success.

It sounds simple, but the results have been startling: the pilot project has seen phone calls to the National Aids Helpline increase from 1,000 a day to 4,000, largely from the communities that most need help. And it’s a model that could be expanded across the rest of Africa.

Thank you to Poptech, iTeach, Frog Design and everyone else who made this possible!

Cheers
Gustav