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Nexus One

Following up on our Nexus Enterprise story we’ve come across a rendering which fits the rumoured description of the new enterprise class handset. It’s so far been referred to as the Motorola Shadow, but we’ve heard that this could also be the Nexus Enterprise. We’ve no way to confirm this at the moment, but if true this would mean that Google’s offering of Nexus handsets could be sourced from several manufacturers. Whilst this struck us as unlikely at first, it could on second thoughts help to appease manufacturers said to be upset at Google’s decision to get into the hardware game.

Following up on our Nexus Enterprise story we’ve come across a which fits the rumoured description of the new enterprise class handset. It’s so far been referred to as the Motorola Shadow, but we’ve heard that this could also be the Nexus Enterprise. We’ve no way to confirm this at the moment, but if true this would mean that Google’s offering of Nexus handsets could be sourced from several manufacturers. Whilst this struck us as unlikely at first, it could on second thoughts help to appease manufacturers said to be upset at Google’s decision to get into the hardware game.

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Nexus One: designed to sync to the cloud, not your desktop

Wired seem impressed with the Nexus One and give it a fairly balanced review. Their only big complaint was lack of support for syncing with your computer. But then there’s a reason for that - Google is all about the cloud.

Super syncing with Google products. The Nexus One makes use of your Google account the way a peasant farmer utilizes a pig carcass — it uses almost every part. (Except Google Docs, which you can view from the browser, but without editing.)

All you have to do is sign in to enable your e-mail, calendar, contacts, Picasa galleries (with a neat new interface for accessing photos) and Google Voice, the free application that organizes your phone activities and transcribes your voicemail. Google Voice doesn’t work with the iPhone, and I had trouble making outgoing calls with it on the Droid. But it works like a charm with the Nexus.

But when it comes to syncing with your computer, the Nexus isn’t so great. This reflects Google’s philosophy that if something ain’t in the cloud, it probably ain’t worth bothering about. Yes, you can plug a Nexus into your laptop via USB, but you have to trigger a command to mount it before the icon shows up, and then you have to drag the files over. Clearly Google would prefer that you use your Nexus One to hear music from Pandora or Last.FM and watch videos from TV.Com or YouTube, as opposed to the antiquated practice of copying and playing actual files.

That’s also probably why Google sniffs at the idea of building in gigabytes of onboard memory on the Nexus. The phone comes with a miserable 512 MB of built-in flash memory. Google’s message for those who want to store MP3 files, photos or movies? Let them buy SD cards!

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"News from the front: a possible turning point for Android. I’ve been a huge iPhone fan, but after using the Nexus One for a few weeks, I find so much to like that I’m close to the point where Android might be my first choice. While I may yet go back to my iPhone, I’m conflicted."
— Tim O’Reilly share’s his thoughts on the Nexus One
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Nexus One teardown: Fixit have gone and blown $530 of their hard earned cash on a Nexus One only to tear it apart. Full details on their site if you’re interested in finding out what’s inside the phone.

Nexus One teardown: Fixit have gone and blown $530 of their hard earned cash on a Nexus One only to tear it apart. Full details on their site if you’re interested in finding out what’s inside the phone.

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Nexus One - US customers already receiving handsets, but what about the rest of the world?

Google launched their new smartphone, the Nexus One yesterday and US customers who ordered the same day should already be taking delivery of their new phone via next day delivery. For those outside the US wondering about availability of the device here’s some answers to the questions that we’ve been getting regarding when, where and for how much?

Availability

Google is currently shipping the phone to just 4 countries. The US (obviously), the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore. Frustrating as it may be if you’re living outside of one of these 4 countries you won’t be able to access Google’s web store even though the phone is likely to work in your country. If you’re after a Nexus One handset and do live in one of these countries then you can order today and have the phone shipped via courier. There’s a charge for shipping to the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore (around $30) and you’ll may also have to pay some tax to the courier when the phone arrives depending on what country you live in.

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The official Nexus One introduction video just released by Google.

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A bit of fun: Giant Nexus One demo replica on display at Google. Faithful to every last detail it looks like…

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Nexus One non-US Pricing

The Nexus One was launched today and is initially available in 4 countries - the US, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. Orders shipped outside the US are still billed in US dollars but subject to tax and shipping. For those outside the US wondering how much they will have to pay for the phone it breaks down like this:

  • Nexus One Phone $529.99
  • AC Adaptor $19.99
  • Shipping (DHL International) $29.65

Duties and taxes will be payable to the courier on receipt of order:

  • Hong Kong:  no VAT or GST!
  • Singapore: 7% Goods and Services Tax on the Cost, Insurance & Freight
  • United Kingdom: 17.5% VAT on the total cost of order including all shipping costs and insurance.

Google have said that there will be a subsidised version of the Nexus One available in Europe through Vodafone this spring.

Update: We’ve posted another article with further details for non-US customers.

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Google launched their much anticipated Nexus One handset to a at their Mountain View headquarters today. The device, which the company has dubbed a ‘superphone’ is now available to buy for shipping to four countries - the US, UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Google announced their intention to ship to more countries in the near future, although the only timeframe they were willing to give at the press event was ‘soon’.

The phone will cost $530 unlocked for use on GSM networks, or $180 on T-Mobile (US) with a 2-year contract. Shipping is free within the US and customers can choose to add custom engraving to the lower bezel during the online purchase process. To buy the phone online you’ll need a both a regular Google Account and a Google Checkout account.

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Voice Input as demonstrated at the Nexus One launch event today. Could prove to be a great new feature on Android phones with no physical keyboard. Speech recognition is done server side as mentioned at the demo. More of these on the youtube channel advertised at the end of the video.

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Breaking News from the press conference:

This is a rough ‘as it happens’ draft. We’ll be making more sense of all this in subsequent posts once the event is over.

Google is currently beginning its unveiling of the Nexus One

Google VP Mario Caros: The Nexus One is an exemplar of what’s possible with Android. It belongs in an emerging category of devices we call super-phones.

Peter Chou, CEO of HTC: A couple years ago we were unveiling the first Android products. Thie Nexus One is one of the best designed HTC phones we’ve ever had. The form-factor, aesthetic — it has a 3.7-inch AMOLED display and 1GHz Snapdragon.

Time for a closer look at the Nexus One and its software. Erick Tseng, senior product manager on the Android team. The specs! 3.7-inch OLED display, HVGA (480 x 800) — deep contrast. 1GHz Snapdragon (“It’s really fast.”). Trackball with multi-color notification LED.

Today is the big day for Google’s Mountain View press gathering which will start around 10am Pacific Time (6pm GMT). We’ll be doing our best to provide all the details as quickly as they come out both and via . Here’s the schedule for the event (Pacific Time):

  • 10:00 am – 11:00 am: Press Conference and Presentation
  • 11:00 am – 11:30 am: Q&A
  • 11:30 am – 1:00 pm: Demonstrations

Rumour: Nexus One to ship outside the US starting today

According to the Nexus One purchase agreement which was briefly available on Google’s website for a few minutes today, the phone will be available for shipment outside the US following the official announcement from Google Headquarters at 10am Pacific Time (6pm GMT). This means that the unlocked device should be available to buy direct from Google’s website and be available for shipping to the UK from later on today. The unlocked version of the phone is expected to sell for $530 if earlier leaks prove to be accurate.

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Rumour: no Nexus One for T-Mobile UK

We’ve just received a tip from someone saying that they’ve seen an email from T-Mobile UK which indicates that they won’t be offering a Nexus One handset, at least for the first quarter of 2010. This could mean that whilst T-Mobile in the US are likely to offer a subsidised version of the handset, T-Mobile users in the UK will initially have to buy the phone directly from Google.

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