Nexus One

Possible Nexus One with AT&T 3G support passes through the FCC

A new handset from HTC bearing a model number very similar to the Nexus One, has just passed through the FCC. The test documents reveal very little about the phone, as HTC has as usual requested that the FCC keep all details confidential. The model number of the device is PB99110 (the Nexus One carries the model number PB99100) and will support Quad-Band GSM, WCDMA bands I, II and V, Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11b/g.

Google have said that they will be expanding their Nexus One offering to support a wider range of networks and carriers and it looks like this could be a first step towards that. The added support for WCDMA II and V means that this handset will be able to use AT&T’s 3G network in the U.S. It will also support other 3G networks using these bands like Telstra Australia’s Next-G, Rogers of Canada and all carriers in Latin America.

Those hoping for a Verizon or Sprint version of the phone will have to wait a bit longer however as this filing shows no support for their CDMA network. Google have said that they will have a CDMA compatible version of the handset available in the spring.

User Reviews: Keith Woo, Day Two hands on with the Nexus One

Our new biggest fan in Malaysia, Keith Woo, has been putting his complementary Nexus One through it’s paces. Following up on his first day with the phone, here’s his impressions from Day Two with the device:

Nice, battery lasted the whole of yesterday with average use of the phone. Today I put it through a little more thorough testing with wifi and 3G. Been 6 or 7 hours and battery is at 50%. Decided to plug it into the laptop for charging. I realize the phone charges pretty quick, like you can literally see the numbers move up before as you watch. Haha.

Exploring the phone further today made me really impressed with the algorithm intergration Google has thought of with the phone. With the entire world going the Google Way, it’s kinda hard to say that they’re not out for world domination. I’m liking it though.

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During Motorola’s recent conference call to discuss it latest quarterly results Chief executive Sanjay Jha confirmed that the company is working on a Google-badged phone. He announced during the call they have 20 smartphones on tap for the year and that one of them will be a “direct to consumer device with Google,” much like HTC’s Nexus One.

No information was given with regards to hardware or availability but there’s a couple of likely form factors which the device could take. One possibility is that it could resemble the recently announced MOTOROI whilst other rumours suggest that it could incorporate a slide out keyboard similar to the Motorola shadow. Needless to say, we’ll keep you posted.

User Reviews: Keith Woo, our new man in Malaysia: Day One with the Nexus One

Thanks to Keith Woo, who’s been keeping daily notes on his experience with the Nexus One that we sent him as he gets used to it. Looks like he’s going to do a pretty thorough job of letting us know what he thinks of the phone. Stay tuned for day two.

Just got the Nexus One. Unboxing it felt like Christmas morning or Birthday morning for kids scrambling to see what’s inside. Haha. Feel of the phone is extremely solid, basic primary setup was extremely efficient and effortless.

Took a while to get used to the idea of how the phone multifunctions though. Long presses, short presses, swipes up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. Didn’t sit down immediately to configure the phone and was outta the house, so it felt kinda like a normal phone for a bit. A bit.

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Nexus One Dock hits the phone store

Google have the Nexus One Dock, now available via their online store for $45. Here’s the official description from their technical specs page:

The Nexus One Desktop Dock is an elegant place to charge your phone on your desk or nightstand.

Just drop your phone in the Desktop Dock, and the Clock app launches automatically, making it easy to:

• Check the local time and weather
• Set and clear alarms
• Watch a slideshow of your photos
• Play music
• Dim your phone’s display for nighttime use

We also include a 3.5mm-to-RCA audio cable that allows you to connect the dock to your stereo, so you can listen to your phone’s music on your stereo system.

Walmart: Nexus One page was a mistake

Due to a technical error, this item erroneously was displayed on our site. We’re working with our partner Let’s Talk to have it removed as quickly as possible. We have no plans to carry Nexus One in Walmart stores or online at Walmart.com at this time. - Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala

We wrote yesterday about Walmart’s coming soon page for the Nexus One, questioning the carrier specifications which were different from those listed by Google. The company has now issued a statement saying that the whole page was an error and that they won’t be carrying the device at all. We’ll reserve comment on this for now. Thanks for nothing Walmart.

Reported Nexus One 3G performance issues software related: fix expected this week

It looks like Google has come up with a fix for users reporting problems with the Nexus One on T-Mobile’s 3G Network in the US. Google have written on the support forum that an over-the-air software fix is expected to solve the problem some time in the next week or so. For the sake of anyone who’s affected by this, we’ve got our fingers crossed that this will resolve the issue.

I wanted to post an update to the Nexus One Help Forum to let you know what we’ve been working on to help address the 3G issues some of you have been facing. I also wanted to thank you for being patient as we work to investigate the problem, an effort which has included our hardware partners.

Our engineers have uncovered specific cases for which a software fix should improve connectivity to 3G for some users. We are testing this fix now, initial results are positive, and if everything progresses as planned, we will provide an over-the-air software update to your phone in the next week or so. It may be, however, that users are experiencing problems as a result of being on the edge or outside of 3G coverage, which a product fix cannot address.

Thanks again for your patience and for your feedback, and we will continue to keep you informed.

Another Nexus One for one of our followers. And this time it won’t be random

Congratulations to Keith Woo who took delivery of his Nexus One handset today for following our news on Twitter. It had an interesting journey to Malaysia by the looks, and required some customs clearance but . We’ll be hearing some feedback from Keith soon as he’s said that he’ll send us some first impressions of the handset once he’s spent a bit of time getting used to it.

Since the response to this first giveaway was so enthusiastic we thought it might be nice to follow up with another one. But rather than have a random giveaway, where the chance of winning goes down as our followers increase, we thought we’d make it more participatory. And more in the spirit of Twitter, as our last giveaway was bordering on spam a bit we realised - we didn’t expect quite so many replies:)

A second giveaway

So our second Nexus One handset will go to one of our followers for the most original re-tweet of one of our news posts, past present or future. Your re-tweet can be witty comment, a better headline, critique, disagreement, whatever you feel like writing. Just include it with RT @nexusonenews and a link to the post. If that doesn’t make sense here’s a not very inspired example:

Video: Joshua Topolsky questions Erick Tseng, Senior Product Manager of Android on multi-touch and Google’s…

could become….

Decent interview… despite looking like it was recorded in a bathroom: RT @nexusonenews

We’ll  be favouring re-tweets that we like and will pick the best from the bunch on 9th March. The same goes for posts from our upcoming mobile device news over at @whythemobile.

So to sum up. We’ll be giving a Nexus One to one of our followers for the most original re-tweet of one our our posts from either or . The post could be from our archive, or anything that we post between now and 9th March. You can re-tweet as many posts as you like. Looking forward to it already.

Nexus One Dock will play music via bluetooth

We know that the Nexus One Dock will be available soon from a recent early ad-sighting, but just what it’s built-in bluetooth support is for has so far remained a mystery. have posted a tip from one of their readers which gives some more details as to how it will work:

…it’s a small dock where the phone sits in it vertically. My friend has a soft case around his Nexus one and it sat in the dock just fine even with the case on. The dock itself has an audio mini-jack allowing speakers to be connected to it, but unlike any of the iPhone docks that only play when you have the phone in the dock, the Nexus One Dock uses Bluetooth to transmit music. You can play music through the speakers or within Bluetooth range. The range was surprisingly good, able to play music with the phone 20+ feet with a wall or two between.  He had computer speakers attached, so I’m assuming the audio port is a standard mini-jack.

The Dock is likely to cost $45 dollars and should be available in a matter of days so if won’t be long before we find out full details on what it will be capable of.

Mobile Computing: The Cloud is the killer app

Since the launch of the Nexus One comparisons with the iPhone have been everywhere, and rightly so, as Apple has so far set the standard in smartphone design and user experience. As observed by of the NYT however, major players such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Yahoo are now competing across ever widening market segments. Whilst the companies started out from very different beginnings we’re now seeing more convergence as their activities increasingly overlap.

Whilst the hardware itself is important, the cloud infrastructure to provide services to new mobile devices will play a decisive role in determining the future of mobile computing. Just as choosing a desktop computer is largely a choice of operating system, choosing a mobile device is also increasingly about which OS a particular device is running, and the cloud infrastructure which supports it. Tim O’Reilly has pointed out that for Apple, great hardware may once again not be enough:

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Google have announced their intention to increase support for game-development on the Android mobile platform. As a first step they will be presenting a number of Android sessions at the Game Developers Conference on March 9th and 10th in San Francisco. The sessions will aim to provide everything developers need to know about Android game development in Java or C++, with Android engineers being on-hand to answer any questions.

As an added incentive to get developers signed-up for the event Google, in partnership with the conference organisers, is offering complimentary handsets to attendees.

Google and GDC will also be providing complimentary Android phones to attendees who register for All Access or Tutorials and Summits passes by the Early Bird deadline of February 4, 2010. Qualified attendees will receive either a Nexus One or a Verizon Droid by Motorola, so they can quickly apply what they learn from the various Android sessions.

You can find out more details about the offer on the conference site. With seven out of the top ten most popular paid applications in the Android store being games, it could be worth a look for developers interested in the platform.

The Nexus One is no iPhone - and that’s OK

A of the Nexus One which gives a fair account of both the phone and what it means to Google.

The Nexus finishes the job that the Droid began: it completes the legitimacy of Android as a phone OS. It suddenly makes iPhone comparisons seem cheap and tacky. A phone running Android 2.x doesn’t need to be as good as an iPhone at anything. With these two phones, Android has proven that it now only needs to be as good as Google’s expectations for it, along with the expectations of its users.

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Nexus One Dock for charging, photo slideshows and more: Available soon

An advert spotted on a YouTube video today indicates that the Nexus One Dock will cost $45 and presumably be available within the next week. There’s still no mention of the dock on the phone store but since Google have started advertising we expect that it won’t be long before it becomes available.

New Nexus One Dock

Available for only $45! Charges Phone, Plays Photo Slideshows & More

We’re assuming that placing the Nexus One into the Dock will trigger some kind of desktop display mode. The ‘and more’ suggests that the dock will make use of built-in bluetooth as detailed in the FCC filing for the device.