Here at Trileet we like to keep our eye on what is going on across all platforms, and that means playing with some of the new phones as they come out. Today, we picked up our very own HTC G1 loaded with Google's great hope for a consumer phone OS, Android.

I must admit there was a good deal of excitement in the office over this phone and OS. It seemed to combine what we loved most about the Sidekick (great messaging, physical keyboard) and the iPhone (incredible browser, clever touchscreen). Sadly as can often be the case, the G1 in our eyes is worse than both, somehow failing on almost all fronts.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the fault doesn't fall on the hardware. Although it has a few odd design decisions, such as the upturned 'tail', overall it works well: the screen is excellent and the keyboard almost up to Sidekick standards. Having dedicated 'back' and 'menu' buttons is a welcome change from the iPhone and they are usually put to good use.

The real failure falls on the software, primarily in the quality (or lack thereof) of all the essential and built in apps.

The browser, which is perhaps the best app on the phone, is still frustrating for anyone used to an iPhone. That Google didn't pick up on how well done the zooming was on the iPhone is incredible. When viewing a full website on an iPhone, you first see the entire page zoomed out. From there it is easy to double tap on a block of text and have it instantly zoom in to exactly the correct size for reading. This works incredibly well across various sites who all put their content in different places. Although the gPhone supports a similar experience, it is more frustrating than useful. The zooming and navigation buttons only appear after panning the page a bit and are awkward to use. Sadly, this is the best app on the device, and even here I find the experience lacking.

We went out and bought ourselves the new Sidekick 2008's today. I can easily say this is the best Sidekick released to date. It combines the smaller size and expanded memory of the Slide with the great keyboard and widescreen display of the LX.

Add to that a high rez camera, video and the coolest feature of all, customizable shells and we are psyched! It's a great time to be a Sidekick user with such a neat new device.

We are going to be releasing some new themes soon that we think are especially cool, and as a special treat we are also thinking about releasing graphics to allow you to make matching shells for your Sidekick. What do you think? Would you buy a matching shell for a theme you really dug? Let us know in the comments.

Meanwhile, get yourself to a T-Mobile store to pick up the greatest Sidekick yet!

Did you notice from the Attaining Zen screenshot that we are using a different version of our logo. It is no longer the classic Trileet "3".

Well, if you did, you are VERY perceptive.

It is true, we are in the process of updating and streamlining our corporate identity.

The new logo has a custom type face. The text has been rendered in two tones to help it visually read as TRI-LEET and not the oft-misread TRILL EAT.

The "3" has been modified and turned into something more abstract. The 3 is still visible in the design, but now the overall design is reminiscent of a circuit trace. In the negative space a wrench tightening a green bolt can be seen. The suggestion of simplicity, utility and technology are all present, which is good, as they are underlying principles guiding our little company.





Hope you like it!

I'm making a note here... HUGE SUCCESS!

Trileet has hit the iPhone App Store with a Top 100 hit! "Attaining Zen" has consistently been in the Top 100 Paid Apps for the first week of its release.

Attaining Zen is a simple interactive zen meditation garden. Rake virtual sand, place rocks and shake it all away. You can even save your gardens to the Photo gallery on your iPhone.

We are excited about the response, and excited that so many people are "Attaining Zen" in their lives!

PS.
Before I forget...WELCOME iPhone users! We don't intend on being one hit wonders, we have many more toys, tools and games in development.

Sidekick loyalists, we HAVE NOT forgotten you. We have a lot of exciting things in store for you! (A follow up to Axion 3D, 3pt Basketball and other top secret projects)

Go to your download catalog and get SokoPuzzler today. It is similar to our original title Sokotop on the SK2, but it has 240 levels. It's also got some pretty slick graphics to boot.

SokoPuzzler will keep track of your best scores for each puzzle and also let you skip ahead if you get stuck on any of them. See if you can complete them all!