Google Announcement Highlights Nexus One Release

For those who were anxiously awaiting the Nexus One release (also known as the Google Phone, though not officially), your moment has come. While Google is still in the midst of their announcement press conference, the website is live.

The pricing information for the Nexus One release is now confirmed. Subscribe to a 2-year T-Mobile plan and you will pay $180. You can get an unlocked phone for $530. However, that phone will be incapable of 3G on AT&T's network, due to the frequencies that the phone supports.

Additionally, the Nexus One release website teases other carriers. It notes that Verizon will carry the Nexus One in Spring 2010, as will Vodafone in Europe.

There's not much in the way of a surprise in terms of the Nexus One specifications. As expected, the phone is Google branded, but they give HTC some space. While the Google brand is prominently displayed on the back of the phone, there is a (much) smaller HTC brand at the bottom. You can also engrave something in a little silver band on the back.

Hardware specifications had already been leaked prior to the Nexus One release. It has a 3.7-inch AMOLED display, and the processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running at 1GHz. The trackball on the device functions as both a navigation method as well as a notification LED. It will pulse when you get an email, phone call, etc. The phone has a light sensor, a proximity sensor, a compass, GPS, and accelerometer.

The Nexus One has a 5-Megapixel camera (with video) with a flash, and with one-click uploads to YouTube. It has stereo Bluetooth and a standard headphone jack. It also has noise cancellation features, which Google calls "active noise suppression." It's a first for an Android phone.

The specifications of weight and height for the Nexus One come in as follows: Height 119mm, Width 59.8mm, Depth 11.5mm Weight 130 grams w/battery, 100g w/o battery. Of course, it has a replaceable battery, as well. When compared to the iPhone, it has a definite thickness advantage; the iPhone is 12.3 mm thick.

Those who have been eschewing a Google account, however, are going to have to have one. According to the Nexus One release information, you need a Google account and Google Checkout to buy one. You can assign 5 phones to one Google account.

Here's some information that you might not be aware of, also. While the Google web page isn't so clear on this, calling the unsubsidized device "unlocked," all the Nexus One devices will come unlocked.

The T-Mobile version is only tied to T-Mobile by the account; it's not SIM-locked. While you will still have the contract, if you buy that version, the device itself can have any SIM slipped into it. That won't really make a difference since you have the contract, but it will make it easier if you travel.

The Nexus One release is also the first release of Android 2.1. The Nexus One will be the first Android phone to have the latest version of the Android OS.

Here is some information from the Nexus One release Q&A session: the design work was done by HTC. Google is just selling it, and HTC designed the phone. Of course, HTC was involved with the T-Mobile G1, the first Android phone, as well, so they go way back.

When asked about multi-touch capabilities on the Nexus One, Google didn't take the bait. While the iPhone offers it, they've also shaken a sharp legal stick at others wanting to support it. The HTC Eris supports multi-touch, but the Nexus One does not. Google didn't comment very much on this, saying it would be considered in the future.

Also for future consideration will be hardware keyboards. Google says the Nexus One is a platform, not just a single phone, so there may be Nexus One devices in the future that have real keyboards.

However, when asked about why people should buy the current Nexus One phones if new ones will always be coming along, Google said anyone waiting for the next Nexus One (Nexus Two?) would be in for a long wait. Consumers would have to wait a long time, but Google also added that technology moves very quickly.

HTC's Droid Eris supports multitouch in the U.S., and Rubin says Google will consider multitouch for the Nexus One in the future. The question was hinting at whether patent considerations are holding back the use of multitouch in the U.S., and Google didn't take the bait.

In terms of why the online-only sales aspect, Google replied that Google wanted to remain "pure and simple." They wanted to market the Nexus One in an online-only way and selling it through a Web store.

Finally, when asked about pricing models and such, Google was rather non-committal. It had been rumored that Google would sell the device at cost sans carrier subsidy, and that hasn't turned out to be the case. The hint, however, was that the idea was that Google wanted to get the store up quickly, and then figure out next steps.

In attendance at the Q&A were HTC's Peter Chou, and Google's Andy Rubin and Mario Queiroz. Motorola's Sanjay Jha also attended, but was late, saying he was "stuck in traffic." When asked about Droid vs. Nexus One sales, all he said was HTC and Motorola are, of course, competitors, and will continue to compete.

Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com

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