Google's Phone Operator

And Android lets you run more than one of these programs at once, then switch among them by pulling the status bar atop the screen down like a window shade.

As a phone, though, the G1 seems merely competent. Its battery allowed 5 1/2 hours of calling, and you can easily call people -- from the contacts list, by tapping an onscreen keypad or by speaking contacts' names -- use its speaker phone and stage group calls. But the G1 lacks a "visual voicemail" list of messages. Its Bluetooth wireless worked with a Jawbone headset but not a Toyota Prius' hands-free kit.

Don't expect Android to retire an iPod, either. It played AAC and MP3 files (including one bought from Amazon's MP3 store with the G1) but sometimes didn't display their labels or album art. You also need to buy a Micro SD card to store any music.

Android's biggest weakness is its requirement that you upload your calendar and contacts list to Google's Web services to use them on the phone. Neither Google nor T-Mobile provide desktop synchronization tools, though other developers may do so later.

Android also suffers from Google's choice of wireless carriers. T-Mobile's broadband coverage makes AT&T's look good: It says it won't even have "3G" service in the D.C. area until the end of this year. Over a few days in Boston, one of 20 markets that T-Mobile has graced with broadband access, the G1 took longer to download sites than an iPhone 3G. A popular speed-test site, DSLreports.com, clocked the G1 at about 600 kilobits per second, roughly 100 kbps slower than the iPhone.

At least the G1 includes a WiFi receiver, too.

T-Mobile charges $25 a month for "unlimited" online access (subject to vague limits on "disproportionate" use), plus 400 text or multimedia messages, on top of a voice plan. A data option with unlimited messaging costs $35 a month.

Android, fortunately, is more than this one phone and this one carrier. There will be other devices and other services, hopefully accompanied by bug fixes and added features from Google. Soon enough, we could be looking at the iPhone for the rest of us.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrobp@washpost.com. Read more athttp://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/