So what's the point in this phone's existence? Someone enlighten me please?
Pardon? I dunno, I like my N1 just fine. It's slick, it's got a nicely sized screen and higher resolution, and so on. Just because you're stuck with a Hero right now and bitter/jealous doesn't mean the N1's existence is pointless, sorry.
Pardon? I dunno, I like my N1 just fine. It's slick, it's got a nicely sized screen and higher resolution, and so on. Just because you're stuck with a Hero right now and bitter/jealous doesn't mean the N1's existence is pointless, sorry.
...why would I? If I want Desire's version of Sense, why, I can already have it. Flash? Yep, got it too! More importantly, I have it. Right. Now. I can play with it right this moment, I have it for day-to-day use presently, I enjoy experimenting with custom ROMs even as we speak. The Desire's got more RAM? Like I care: my N1's got over 150 MB of free memory generally, a bit more or less won't make a difference. I have, in fact, been enjoying my N1 since January.
Enjoy your outdated Hero for the next few months. Unlocked phones are fantastic, let me tell you. No waiting for contract to end, no waiting for upgrade, no nothing. Get the latest and greatest immediately, whenever you please. Ta!
Wow you've really taken this to heart. OK so you've had your N1 since January congratulations. Your point about contract is irrelevant, I'll be buying the HTC Desire sim free when it's released. For me, choosing an N1 over the Desire would be like choosing a Skoda over a Volkswagon.
For me, choosing an N1 over the Desire would be like choosing a Skoda over a Volkswagon.
You realise that Skoda actually make excellent cars now and are at least a match for Volkswagon?
Anyway, the Desire is a better phone than the N1. The only thing the N1 has over it is dual noise-cancelling microphones and triband instead of dual-band, all the other Desire specs are equal or better. But what's your point OP? The Desire will be more expensive. You're saying Google shouldn't release their phone because a better one will be along shortly? That's true of just about every gadget. The release won't quite be as big an event as the American one, but it was never going to be.
Skoda make good cars now because it’s owned by Volkwagon. The Nexus 1 is a good phone because it’s made by HTC. That's my point. Everyone knows the N1 is just a branded HTC handset, so why would anyone choose it over the Desire? Surely it’s better to have the real McCoy? If the Desire will be available on contract in the UK before the N1, the Vodaphone store assistant is hardly going to say “but if you wait a couple of weeks the N1 will be released”. Seriously, how would you sell the N1 to average Joe??? This whole ‘Google Phone’ thing just seems like a pointless marketing exercise.
Not everyone is an ignorant average-joe. The Desire may or may not have fastboot oem unlock; most likely it won't. You want a phone you can't root (or which may take a looong while to root, see some versions of the Hero and the Telus Milestone), you go ahead while the rest of us enjoy custom UIs, root access, and well-optimized kernels.
you go ahead while the rest of us enjoy custom UIs, root access, and well-optimized kernels.
I think you've just answered my question. But surely the whole point in this ‘branding experiment’ was to appeal beyond this tech-head niche market, whip up some excitement and compete with rival phones? Advertising has been pretty non-existent. Look at the ‘coming soon’ section on Vodaphones website down the bottom below Desire, Legend and X10, yep there she is… the N1. By the time it’s actually available on contract they’ll be a superior phone made by the same company. Google might as well not even bother launching it in the UK now because the sort of person who it’s going to appeal to is the sort of person who’s already got it direct. They should just save themselves the embarrassment of a sales flop.
So what's the point in this phone's existence? Someone enlighten me please?
I do think you have a point. The Nexus 1 is a good phone, a colleague of mine has one, but it's been so undermarketed that I sometimes wonder why Google even bothered. Maybe it was just a vehicle for Google dipping their toe in the phone market and gently testing the water.
I also think that the basic premise of the phone wasn't really that viable. Google's idea was to sell a phone that was sim free and not tied to any carrier, which sounds great, but the truth is that there aren't that many people prepared to throw down £/$400 on a phone. We're still tied in to the idea of apparently getting phones free when we sign up to a contract.
As you mentioned there's talk of the N1 coming to Vodafone, and maybe other carriers, but this kind of defeats the whole purpose of Google's original idea...especially when those carriers have alternative, and potentially better phones coming along at the same time anyway; such as the Desire.
Still, if in a few months time we find that the N1 is getting updates quicker than all the other Android phones, because it's directly supported by Google, then we may see a gradual shift toward it or it's successor in future. I'm not convinced though.
UK Nexus non-event
Unlocked phones are fantastic, let me tell you. No waiting for contract to end, no waiting for upgrade, no nothing. Get the latest and greatest immediately, whenever you please. Ta!
button when someone helps you 
