All you need to do, is follow some steps carefully and root your device to reveal the true potential of the great device. But, perform these steps at YOUR OWN RISK, as a slightest mistake could brick your device forever.

You need to have firmware version RC 29 (for the US users) or RC 7 (for the UK users). If you have RC 8 or higher (for the UK users
) or RC 30 or higher (for the US users), you need to downgrade to firmware version RC 7 or RC 29 before proceeding to gain root access. To know how to downgrade your firmware version, click here.

The steps that need to be followed are :

1. Download recovery.img and Hard SPL to the root of your SD card. Click here to download recovery.img and click here to download Hard SPL.
2. Restart your device. Then, press Enter twice, and type “telnetd” and press Enter again.
3. Download and install a Telnet application on your device.
4. Type the following commands into the application :

• mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
• cd sdcard
• flash_image recovery recovery.img
• cat recovery.img > /system/recovery.img

Congratulations !! now you have root access on your T-Mobile G1.

Here are the steps that you need to follow. But, perform these steps at YOUR OWN RISK, because if something goes wrong, your phone can be bricked forever.

1. Use a micro SD card, that has been formatted with FAT 32 mode.
2. Download the firmware version you wish to install. Rename the downloaded zip file to update.zip. Place the file in the root folder of your micro SD card, and put the card in your device.
3. Turn the device power off.
4. Keep the Home+End button pressed until you see the T-Mobile G1 logo.
5. Now, press Alt+L on your keyboard.
6. Now, press Alt+S to begin the update process on your device.
7. Carefully follow the instructions on your screen. Then, press Home+Backspace button to finish the process.
8. Your device will reboot a few times, to completely flash your device with the new firmware.

To check, if your new firmware has been flashed, go to Menu > Settings > About Phone. Scroll down to the Build Number. If it reads the firmware you just flashed, then the update has been performed correctly.

The best part about Palringo is that is available for all the mobile platforms (of course, including Android) and is free. Heck, they have even made a version for Windows, Linux and Mac! It is easy to use and did I mention that it is free? Download it from the Android Market and you are ready to go.

Now Android users can keep in touch with their buddies on all the most popular IM services using text and photo messaging. Busy? Not a problem, just choose the medium that works best for you depending on the message and the situation. Simply type, snap and share.

Plus Palringo can run in the background on Android and alert you to new messages as they arrive so you’ll never miss a chat conversation again.

Location features are also available on Android so with just one glance at your Palringo contact list you can see where your friends are right now and of course you can share your location with those people you trust.

[Palringo]

2) Meebo:

Meebo is also a great IM client for the Android OS. Just like Palringo, it too can run in the background. Search for “Meebo” in Android Market to download it.

[Meebo official webpage]

3) Mundu:

Mundu has released a ‘near’ fully functional IM client for Android OS and it looks very promising. However, it costs $11 and is not available at Android market. Its APK file can be downloaded from their website.

Hera are few screenshots of it:

[Mundu IM]

4) ICQlive:

It is an ICQ-only chatting client for Android OS supporting almost all the features of standard ICQ client except file transfer, which can be a deal breaker for some folks.

[Handango Link for ICQlive]

5) IRCell

It is a simple, FREE IRC application. Nothing much to talk about it.

[IRcell website]

6) AndroidChat

AndroidChat is a location aware chat client (and server, but more on that later) for the Android Platform designed to compete in the Android Developers Challenge. It is a freeware.

[Download Here]

7) eBuddy:

Like Palringo, the eBuddy is also an IM client that supports MSN, Yahoo!, AIM, ICQ, Google Talk and Facebook buddies.

To get it, go to Android Market and search for “ebuddy”.

Know more interesting IM apps for Android? Just comment below and we will love to add it on the list.

thanks to Michael suggesting eBuddy!

Please check the supported ROM versions, if any, before downloading any theme.

1. Gloss Suite & Aero JF ADP1.5 theme

Here are  a few screenshots of the themes :

Aero with black notification and black clock with stock lock screen, download here.

Aero with white notifications and white clock with black bar, download here.

Gloss with Menu, White Clock, White Notifications, battery percentage, gloss keys and custom gloss boot image, download here.

2. *Aero1.5* JFADP1.5/Dudes1.x

The following screenshots show the Aero 1.5 theme running :

Here’s a picture of the icons contained in the theme :

Aero v1.5(BLACK) by JF ADP 1.5, download here.

Aero v1.5(BLACK) by Dudes1.2, download here.

Aero Wallpaper, downloGoogle Android Mix › Edit Post — WordPressad here.

Official Aero icon pack(For use with Bettercut. Unzip all the icons to your sdcard, then user Bettercut to change icons.), download here.

Icon pack by RainCrow(For use with Bettercut), download here.

3. Black Ice JF 1.51ADP

Works with JF 1.51adp

Here are a few screenshots of the beautiful theme:

Download the theme here.

3. Aero Haykuro 6.0r1

A look at a few screenshots of the theme :

Download this theme here.

4. Stargate G1 jfrc33 1.42 /adp 1.1h

Here’s a sneak peak at how the theme looks :

Instructions for downloading and installation :

1.first you need root and jf rc33 (1.42) or adp 1.1h.

2.just change the name to update.zip and add it to your phones sd card.

3.shut the phone off and boot your phone in to recovery mode by holding the home+(red)power button until you get to a android system recovery screen.

4.then press ALT+S .. and there your done now.

To download jfrc33 1.42, click here and for adp 1.1h, click here.

5. ANDROID PLUS (+) for Dude’s Cupcake 1.2 a/b

This theme is basically a combination of the Aero theme and the Gloss Suite theme, along with some more advancements.

Here are a few screenshots of the theme :

Home widgets, download here.

Icon Pack, download here.

Complete Theme Pack, download here.

6. Macdroid v2.3 RC33

A look at a few screenshots of the theme :

Macdroid 2.3 RC33, download here.

Macdroid Add-on, download here.

Macdroid 2.3 RC33 Dark Notification, download here.

Macdroid 2.2 RC30, download here.

Macdroid RC30 (Dark taskbar), download here.

Macdroid 2.2 ADP1.1, download here.

Macdroid 2.2 RC8, download here.

7. Juggalos and Juggalettes JF 1.5.

This theme works with JF 1.5

Here’s a look at the theme :

Download this theme here.

8. Dark Symmetry

A look at the beautiful theme :

Download this theme here.

Keep an eye on this post for further updates.

Design

The T-Mobile G1 has a simple design, much like any other HTC device.

On the left hand side, you will find the volume control button.

And, on the right-hand side bottom, is located the camera button.

On the bottom of the device, you will find the ext-USB port, which is used for charging, syncing with the PC and for plugging in the earphone.

On the backside, is located the 3.2mp camera, and also the speaker. The speaker is not very loud, but manageable.

On the front, below the screen, you will find 5 keys, the call button, the home button, the back button, the call end button and the menu button, and a track ball.

The T-Mobile G1 comes with a full qwerty keyboard, which slides open from the side.

The SD card slot is on the left hand side bottom of the device. You need to slide out the keyboard, to be able to open the protective cover of the slot, and get access to it.

Screen

The T-Mobile G1 has a capacitive screen. So it responds only to your finger touch. It comes

with a resolution of 340*480. I found the display to be quite touch sensitive.

Processor and memory

This device comes with a Qualcomm 528 MHz processor. It has 256 MB ROM and 192MB RAM. The Android OS manages the memory pretty well. I’m yet to see any kind of out of memory errors yet.

Battery

t-mobile G1 comes with a 1150mAh battery. I found the performance to be quite impressive.

Final thoughts

Quite a good beginning for a completely new platform. The Google Android has been able to make a bug splash in the mobile phone arena, even though it is still in its infancy stage. And I am pretty sure that the Google Android will stand as a strong contender for the other  mobile phone Operating Systems out there.