Google Mobile Phone – The Nexus One

The Apple iPhone is probably the handset that generates the most chatter on the web. Anything and everything regarding the iPhone is eagerly lapped up by fans of the device, and Apple do a good job of capitalising on this.

Recently, though, the most talked about phone is a handset that may not even exist, the fabled Google Phone. There is a lot of talk about the possibility of Google producing their own handset, hardware and firmware, and has been for years now. The rumours first started before the launch of Android, where Google were rumoured to be making their own phone, only for the Android operating system to be announced. The first phone running on the Android OS, the G1, released soon after.

The rumours have never really gone away though, and in the last few weeks they have returned with some force, with internet chatter reaching fever pitch. To be honest, it is hard to sort out the ‘could be true’ rumours from the ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ stuff. As the talk started to rise in level, it came to light that Google had in fact given some of their employees an ‘unknown’ handset, running on Android 2.1. This news soon spread across the web, with the Google employees openly talking about the phone on Twitter.

As it turns out, the phone in question seems to be the Nexus One, a device built by HTC, which shouldn’t be a surprise to many, given their close working relationship with Google and Android products recently. Sporting a large, 3.7 inch AMOLED screen, and with a 5.0 Megapixel camera, the Nexus One has the looks and styling to make it as a top end smartphone device. There have been a few tweaks to the look of the menu on the device, with a 3D look in the Applications, plus a new way of looking through the various homescreens, rather than swiping side to side, screens are flicked through card style.

Google Navigation is expected to be on the device (officially available for US users only, currently) as well as the new Google service, Google Goggles. This allows you to perform searches via images. So for example, you could capture an image on the camera of a landmark, and after connecting to the service some relevant information is sent to the device about the landmark, and the surrounding area. We will have a fuller review of the Nexus One when it is officially announced.

The Nexus One is a smart looking device, very thin, and will sell well. Whilst it seems this *is* the phone that has been at the centre of all the rumours over the last 10 days or so, the possibility of a Google Phone is still being talked about. Is it feasible that Google really are working on a device of their own, which will be separate to the Nexus One? If so, how much of an impact will a Google Phone have on the market? It has been suggested that any Google Phone will be sold direct, avoiding any network subsidies, but also meaning the handset will be unlocked and available on any network. It will be interesting to see what this kind of sales approach has on the market, and whether other manufacturers will consider the same route to market.

However it pans out, the interest in a Google Phone is certainly at melting point right now, and if there is a Google Phone in the pipeline then now would be a good time to move in on the market and cash in on the interest. There is a lull in the market right now, offering Google an opportunity to grab all the headlines, as most of the new handsets from the leading manufacturers will be announced nearer the run up to the Mobile World Conference, which will be in February.

With a potential Google Phone, and many Android devices due to launch, the smartphone wars look set to kick off, and it will be interesting to see what Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung can bring to the table to compete. There’s also the small matter of whether we will see a new iPhone next year. At this rate, 2010 is going to be the most interesting year in mobile, and as a consumer, the choice is going to be immense.

Related Google Nexus One Links

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