Nexus Enterprise set to be the next iteration in Google’s smartphone line
It might sound like an unlikely mix-up of two sci-fi films but the Nexus Enterprise is rumoured to be the latest device in Google’s Nexus smartphone line. In an Andy Rubin, Google’s Vice President of Engineering mentioned such a device whilst talking about how customers will use the online phone store.
09:19 Rubin: This is the first product but there will be other products [in the store] and they will be segmented how you’d expect them to be segmented. There’ll be an enterprise version, a mass market version you know whatever. [The Nexus One] is the superphone version…
Mossberg: Wait back-up there. Of this particular phone [holding up the Nexus One] there’s going to be an enterprise version?
Rubin: In the series of products that are hosted in this online store, yes
Mossberg: Oh in the program
Rubin: Yeah in the program there will be different segments
With their first handset being called the Nexus One it’s not hard to guess that Google is planning to add more devices to the Nexus range. Andy Rubin made it clear in the WSJ interview that they will be adding more Android devices to the the online phone store, and increasing the range of carrier options available. Whilst this will include Android devices from manufacturers like Motorola it’s also clear that Google is planning to expand it’s own offering of Nexus branded handsets.
We’ve heard from a source close to T-Mobile that there is an enterprise version in the works, and that it’s being referred to as the Nexus Enterprise. Our source also told us that the enterprise handset will incorporate a slide out keyboard, and be similar in style to the HTC G2.
Andy Rubin implied that with the Nexus One, we’re seeing the first step in Google’s mobile hardware strategy. With the huge potential in the mobile segment, the company clearly wants to establish a presence in the market which ensures users easy access to Google’s range of online services.
Rubin: We’re trying to connect users with devices that are the best possible implementation of Google services.
Mossberg: So this is like a hardware frontend to Google services?
Rubin: It’s something you carry round with you 8, 10, 12 hours a day that puts Google at your fingertips.
As we wrote in a previous post, Google doesn’t expect to take over the world with the Nexus One. But they want to get their foot in the door. The Nexus project is about creating a compelling alternative to the current smartphone offering, and increasing the appeal of the platform with each new hardware release. Google has developed their online software offering by gradually iterating ever-better versions and features and is likely to take a similar approach with hardware. The Nexus Enterprise will be Google’s next iteration of their vision of what a smartphone can be.
The Nexus Enterprise will be looking to deliver features which companies require in a mobile communication platform such as push email, push calendar, integrated support for Microsoft Exchange, document access and sharing, Virtual Private Network support and remote wipe. Whilst some of these features already exist in Android, an enterprise device is likely to better package these services, whilst leveraging the power of Google Apps, which the company wants to promote to more corporate users.
It’s possible that with the Nexus Enterprise, Google could repeat the unprecedented step of releasing a handset running a newer version of Android than that available to developers. The Nexus One came to market running Android 2.1 a week before the SDK was made publicly available and it’s likely that an enterprise class mobile device from Google will also showcase an enterprise-tuned point release of Android.
