My comments are in BOLD.
Google to launch its own Nexus One phone running Android next year, maybe | Technology | guardian.co.uk
The Google Phone or Gphone has been rumoured for a long time, and while many of us have doubted its existence until now, the evidence is mounting up. Numerous Google staff are actually using an unbranded Gphone, and pictures of it have been posted via Twitter. It's called the Nexus One, it runs Google
Android, obviously,
and it's being manufactured for Google by HTC, which is already well known for making Android and Windows
Mobile phones.
HTC built the phone for Google They did not build it for _____ carrier.
Google's Mobile blog says staff are "dogfooding" the device (a term that has long been standard at Microsoft). It says: "We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it."
And I'd bet one of the things they're testing is Google Voice, which was the application Apple refused to allow on the iPhone. It remains to be seen whether Apple will back down, because freedom from that kind of control could be one of the Gphone's attractions.
Reproducing an image posted to
Twitpic by Cory O'Brien (
coryobrien.com),
Engadget notes:
the image above is an exact match to that leaked HTC Passion / Bravo image from October, only this time lacking the HTC logo on the top-side bezel. Besides the pic, O'Brien tweets that the "Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android."
It's not clear how the sales pitch is going to go, but the idea is that the
Gphone will be sold direct to consumers, not via a network contract. This could make it look expensive, because the hardware will not be subsidised by overcharging for mobile phone calls. (Quite why a smartphone with a 3-4 inch screen costs roughly twice as much as a netbook with a 10 inch screen and a hard drive is still a mystery to me, but it does.)
However, network operators will be able to get around this problem very easily by offering contracts with discounted minutes on "Bring your own Gphone" deals.
The Nexus One will be sold directly to consumers. That means it will not be a "carrier" device.
Google could also make the Nexus One available reasonably cheaply because it will make money from the Google advertising that users will see when they use Google "properties" such as search, Gmail, YouTube, and so on. There could also be plenty of money-making opportunities in location-based services, such as directing users to the nearest eatery, bank, or whatever. It would be interesting to know what the lifetime value of a Gphone user might be, but Google must have done some calculations.
"Cheaply" sounds good to me.
Although some blogs and magazines have confidently suggested the Nexus One will be launched in January, bear in mind there has been no official announcement, just a lot of speculation. But it is starting to look as though Google might be serious.
I still hope it does come next month.
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Nexus One: The Google Phone Has a Name
It
im happy because most of the information seems to be pointing towards a definite tmobile release XD
