It’s basically a ritual now: Fresh feature debuts on new Android phone; hack-happy HTC Dream owners see new feature, develop seething jealousy; said owners work tirelessly to steal new feature. Last week, Google Maps Navigation hit the Droid. Today, the G1.

AU: The G1 is called HTC Dream in Australia, but I wouldn’t bother trying this as Google Maps Navigation is only available in the US at the moment. _-EH

Google Maps Navigation will be part of Android 2.0, and Android 2.0 is expected to come to most — if not all — Android handsets on the market eventually, so given how complicated this hack is (fairly!), and that it requires a rooted phone, it’d be prudent for most folks to just wait this out. That said, there’s no saying on how long it’ll be until Eclair seeds out to older handsets, and there’s no guarantee that the G1 — an old fart in its little corner of the universe — will ever get it. Anyhow, here’s what you need to do, from XDA:

Download here

Make sure you have CyanogenMod 4.2.3.1, by the way.

1) Unzip zip to desktop
2) Run Part 1.bat
3) When prompted to press any key, do so; the phone will reboot
4) When your phone is running again, run Part 2.bat
5) When prompted to press any key, the installation process is done.
6) Make sure GPS is enabled
7) Open Maps and press OK
8) Press Menu
9) Press Directions
10) Enter an end point
11) Click Go
12) Just under “Show on map”, click Navigate.
13) When prompted to install the voice codec, do so.

And there you have it: Free, not terrible turn-by-turn navigation for your G1 without Android 2.0. [XDA via Engadget Mobile via IntoMobile]

Props go to coder, Akira Harada, for the port but it’s just a sluggish preview at this point. If you’re super keen, you can download the code for your G1 here, but you’re probably better off just watching the video below and waiting for Cyanogen to cook up a fully functional Android 2.0 Éclair ROM. [HDBlog.it (translated) via SlashGear]

The tireless tinkerers over at XDA have assembled a definitive guide to loading the Hero’s custom-baked Android build onto G1s. It’s fairly involved and a little risky, but hardly unfamiliar territory to HTC fans. [XDA, GetYourDroidOn—Thanks, Patrick!]

To be more specific, they actually say: “HTC Dream owners on Optus network will start receiving the upgrade to Android 1.5 (Cupcake) from late July.”

So if you’re a Dream owner, I wouldn’t panic if August 1 rolls around and you’re still on 1.0.

[Optus Twitter feed – Thanks Daniel]

TuneWiki Introduces Social Blip Technology with New Android Cupcake Release

TuneWiki’s Social Music Player App for Latest Google Phone Offers Worldwide Connectivity in Music and Lyrics through Facebook, Twitter and Email

(San Francisco, CA) May 20th, 2009-TuneWiki, the next generation social media music player, today announced its new app for Google’s Android 1.5, Cupcake. This new version of the app features Blip technology for increased social connectivity, offering to post the user’s current song on their Twitter or Facebook profile. The new social media capabilities come in addition to earlier TuneWiki versions, promoting a social network that allows users to add, edit and subtitle lyrics for audio and video files in all languages. This new version of TuneWiki is the most advanced and comprehensive social media music player compatible with Cupcake available today. Features found only in the Cupcake version include a home screen widget, allowing users to control TuneWiki without having to launch the full player, and the ability to organize and access different parts of their music collection directly from the home screen through live folders. TuneWiki for Cupcake is Bluetooth compatible and can be upgraded to an ad-free version for $4.99.

Features Include:
• Blip technology to update Facebook and Twitter with current playlist selection
• Android Home Screen widget
• Bluetooth wireless compatible
• Free Ad-Supported or Ad-free version available for $4.99
• Interactive Music Maps showing what other users are listening to around the globe
• Lyric subtitling for both audio and video, including the option to translate lyrics into 40+ languages

[TuneWiki]

G1 owners: Some people got it already, but expect the Cupcake general public rollout to officially start next Tuesday. According to one reliable source, that will be C-Day. This goes along with T-Mobile’s previous statement about the delivery of Android’s new version:

We’re finalising the build this week to ensure optimal functionality and smooth delivery. Therefore, the rollout schedule has been reset by approximately a week, and we expect all G1 customers will have the update by early June.

So yes, if it starts rolling out next week, they will meet their “all G1 customers” by early June target.

The Cupcake update expected um, now for the T-Mobile G1 has been pushed back a week, and now it’s gonna be “early June” before everybody has it on their phone. Lame. [T-Mobile, Thanks Jon]

At the moment, Google claims that the service works best with “products like electronics, books, movies or video games,” but they are working to bring more products on board. Hopefully the iPhone will be able to take advantage of this service sometime in the near future. [Google via MobileCrunch]

The guys at KickingTires have put the TeleNav turn-by-turn GPS Navigator for Android and the G1 through its paces and have emerged feeling that the software is impressive, but overpriced.

Indeed, while they felt that the software scored well in major categories like ease of use, routing, map quality and accuracy, the value factor struck a major blow to the final verdict. After all, it’s hard to justify spending $US10 a month, $US99 a year or $US249 for four years on a service for your phone when quality, dedicated GPS devices can be had for under $US200. Still, if portability is a major issue for you, KickingTires is calling the Android TeleNav “the best turn-by-turn navigation system for a mobile phone available to date.” And it will be available on more and more Android devices in the near future. [Kicking Tires]

AU: I wouldn’t be too surprised if the update doesn’t hit Optus Dream owners for a few weeks after the info we got last week…

T-Mobile USA is excited to offer its T-Mobile G1 customers new software updates, including Android 1.5. Starting at the end of next week, T-Mobile USA will begin rolling out Android 1.5 to T-Mobile G1 customers. The over-the-air update, which all G1 customers should receive by the end of May, will provide customers with many new feature enhancements and updates, such as:
· An on screen full QWERTY keyboard.
· Video record and playback capabilities.
· Easy uploading of photos to Picasa and videos to YouTube.

Additional details on Android 1.5 can be found at the T-Mobile G1 forum at http://forums.t-mobile.com/tmbl/?category.id=Android or via the Android site:http://www.android.com/releases/.