Setting up the Phone

Setting Up the Phone
When you first start up the phone, you’ll find that, unless you only want to call emergency services or you just enjoy staring at the Android logo, you’re required to associate your phone with a Google account. If you don’t have a Google account yet, you can set one up from the phone itself.
In the case of the G1, you are asked to touch the Android logo. Then you see a brief screen describing the need for the Google account. After reviewing the page, touch Next. You can choose whether to use an existing Google account or create a new one.

Using an Existing Google Account
If you already have a Google account, simply touch the Sign In button. Enter your username and password, and then touch the Sign In button again.
That’s really all there is to getting started using an existing Google account. You should receive a notification that your account is now associated with the phone, unless you typed the wrong password. In that case, you are told that you typed the wrong password, and you have to retype it. If everything is set up properly, the phone notifies you that your Google account is now linked. 

Creating a New Google Account
You need to create a Google account if you don’t already have one, or if you just want to start fresh with a new account. (We’ll show you how to switch from one account to another in the section,“Resetting Your Phone,” in Chapter 13.
No matter why you might want to do it, it’s easy to configure a new Google account with your phone by following these steps:

1. Tap the Create button.
   
2. Enter the appropriate data in the First name, Last name, and Username fields. Tap
   Next.
   
3. If your choice of a username is unavailable, you can type in a new username or select
   from some automatically generated alternatives.
   
4. Either enter a new name or pick one from the alternative list by touching the visible alternative and then sliding your finger up and down the list to scroll through it. Tap the alternative you’d like to use, and then tap Next.
   
5. Enter a password, and set up a security question to answer if you forget your password in the future. When you’re done, tap Create.
   Your password needs to be eight characters long at a minimum. A good password is a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, isn’t a real word, and has both numbers and special characters in addition to letters. The password aaaaaaa% is a weak password, whereas Th3_g0VrD5! is a strong password. If you choose a pass- word that’s too weak, you’ll be asked to enter a different one later in the setup process.
   
6. Read through the Google Terms of Service, and then touch I agree. Tap Next. (If you don’t agree, you might want to return the phone, because without the Google account, your Android-powered phone will only be able to make emergency calls.)
   
7. After the phone communicates with Google’s servers, you’re presented with a CAPTCHA. Enter the text displayed, and touch Next.
   

8. If you end up back on the password selection screen, the password you selected proba- bly was too weak. Choose a stronger password, and tap Next.
   
9. Touch Finish, and your initial setup is complete!