Reports are coming in that Android has shipped with a rather peculiar bug: The OS interprets every word as a command, and if you open up the keyboard and type r-e-b-o-o-t the G1 will do just that.

It will activate with other commands as well, so best avoid combinations of rm and rf. The bug affects any G1 with firmware version 1.0 TC4-RC29 or earlier. If you’ve already downloaded the RC30 update, then you are good.

According to research by Strategy Analytics, Samsung is now the leading cellphone vendor in the US. The company’s ascension to the top spot has pushed Motorola into second place. During last quarter, Samsung managed to push it’s sales up 6.2 percent over the previous years results to 47.4 million handsets.

Motorola’s market share fell from 32.7 percent last year to just 21.1 percent this year. Sources indicate this is due to the lack of an Android-type phone until late next year, therefore the company has nothing to compete with the iPhones and the G1s of the world. Sorry Moto.

The T-Mobile G1 phone does not require an over-the-air update to be upgraded to the new RC29 firmware. All you need is a MicroSD card.

WARNING: This update method is not supported by T-Mobile, or Google. If you brick your phone, it becomes a useless paperweight, and all your information gets lost, don’t say we didn’t warn you. On the upside, we haven’t heard of anyone having any problems, which means manual updates could become a routine option at a later date.

Here are the instructions to complete the manual update to the RC29 firmware:

1. Get the RC29 update from Google ( Download here )

2. Rename it the downloaded file from signed-kila-ota-115247-prereq.TC4-RC19+RC28.zip to update.zip, and place it in the root of your Micro SD card.

(Don’t forget to unplug your handset from Computer USB before proceeding for next step)

3. Turn off your G1, then turn it back on by holding the Home+End keys until you see an icon popup after the T-Mobile G1 logo.

4. From the icon screen, open the keyboard and hit Alt+L. This will display the log saying what is happening (although you can skip this step).

5. Now press Alt+S to begin the update. Remember, the update needs to be in the root of the Micro SD card and needs to be named update.zip.

6. Once it finishes, just follow the onscreen instructions and press Home+Back to finish.

7. The G1 will reboot a few times to flash different parts of the firmware.

T-Mobile’s RC29 upgrade for their G1 arrives on November 11th. For the impatient, there is a way to manually force the upgrade. Simply download the update and move it to a MicroSD card. That’s pretty much it. T-Mobile has warned that the manual upgrade isn’t officially supported, so if you muck up your G1 you are on your own. Also, the company has yet to reveal exactly what is on the upgrade. Curious yet?

The G1 has gone through a teardown so we can see what makes it tick. Several surprises were unearthed during the teardown, including that the trackball is basically identical to what RIM uses. Also of note: Panasonic built the main board and the compass was built by Asahi Kasei. Detractors note that the keyboard element seems too thin; ditto for the plastic bar connecting the sliding display to the phone.