New Details on the Google Nexus One Android-Powered Smartphone Come to Light

[Ed Hardy]

Reports continue to surface that Google will release its first smartphone early next month, and a full set of specifications of this upcoming Android 2.1 model have now leaked out, detailing its many high-end features.

Google has already handed out proto-type units of the Nexus One to many of its employees, and reportedly plans to start selling this model to the public on January 5.

Plenty of New Details
The latest leak from this company helps confirm many of the details on this device, and reveals new ones, too.

The Nexus One is almost certainly a version of the HTC Bravo, with a 3.7-inch, WVGA, AM-OLED display and optical trackpad.

It will run Android OS 2.1 on a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, and have 512 MB RAM. This device will reportedly come with a 4 GB microSD card, and users will have the option to expand this up to 32 GB.

As in earlier reports, the latest spec sheet shows the Nexus One will be a GSM phone with support for only T-Mobile USA's 3G service (7.2 Mbps HDSPA), not any of this carrier's larger rivals'. Still, AT&T customers will be able to make phone calls and make 2.5G (EDGE) connections.

The gPhone, as it's sometimes called, will also include Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and stereo support.

In addition, this smartphone will reportedly have a 5 MPx camera with auto-focus and LED flash.

Also on the Nexus One's leaked spec sheet is a GPS receiver, accelerometer, and digital compass.

The outer casing will allegedly be 4.7 inches tall, 2.3 inches wide, and 0.5 inches thick (119 mm x 59 mm by 12 mm). It will weigh in at 4.6 oz. (130 g).

Limited Availability?
Those who are eager to get their hands on the Google Nexus One might have a longer wait than they think. Although several sources have said the release will be on Jan. 5, it may be available in limited quantities, and only to those who are offered it by Google.

The unconfirmed reports say T-Mobile will sell this smartphone for $200 with a two-year contract.

Source: Engadget

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[blisterpeanuts]

At last! Me want.

I wonder if the name relates to Bladerunner. That implies newer and more evil versions as time goes by.

[tbessie]

At last! Me want.

I wonder if the name relates to Bladerunner. That implies newer and more evil versions as time goes by.

WHAT have all the phone manufacturers got against making phones with AT&T 3G? Wouldn't they LIKE to make something to compete against the iPhone?

- Tim

[zap2]

WHAT have all the phone manufacturers got against making phones with AT&T 3G? Wouldn't they LIKE to make something to compete against the iPhone?

- Tim

Agreed! I'd like someone would want to jump into the AT&T Android market...sure it would fight the iPhone, but you know some will want an non-iPhone smartphone!

[Ed Hardy]

WHAT have all the phone manufacturers got against making phones with AT&T 3G? Wouldn't they LIKE to make something to compete against the iPhone?

AT&T isn't interested in having phones compete with the iPhone, though. Its relationship with Apple is its cash cow, and offering a powerful high-end model like the Nexus One might jeopardize this.

The Nexus One is reportedly going to be officially supported by T-Mobile, and it will be directly offering it to its customers. If Google's Andy Rubin made the same offer to AT&T, I'm certain he was rebuffed.

And if Google went ahead and added AT&T support without AT&T's cooperation, there would likely be little interest from consumers -- 90% of all phones sold in the U.S. are bought through a carrier.

Perhaps the situation will change when/if Apple lets Verizon offer the iPhone too. Then AT&T will have less to lose if it gets on Steve Jobs' nerves.
-

[tbessie]

Oh, I wasn't trying to imply that Google would have any cooperation with AT&T on this, or even that AT&T would want this; I was meaning that Google has the OOMPH to push its phone without the support of any carrier, and I think maybe people would buy it from them.

But I'm biased, since the last few phones I bought I did online, both from the manufacturers or resellers - phones that US carriers didn't sell. I know the average consumer won't do this, but maybe Google can use its might to sell phones outside of the carrier system... you know, like an ad campaign that talked about how it's only in the US where carriers dominate the phone market, "... but it doesn't HAVE to be that way!" etc. :-)

- Tim

AT&T isn't interested in having phones compete with the iPhone, though. Its relationship with Apple is its cash cow, and offering a powerful high-end model like the Nexus One might jeopardize this.

The Nexus One is reportedly going to be officially supported by T-Mobile, and it will be directly offering it to its customers. If Google's Andy Rubin made the same offer to AT&T, I'm certain he was rebuffed.

And if Google went ahead and added AT&T support without AT&T's cooperation, there would likely be little interest from consumers -- 90% of all phones sold in the U.S. are bought through a carrier.

Perhaps the situation will change when/if Apple lets Verizon offer the iPhone too. Then AT&T will have less to lose if it gets on Steve Jobs' nerves.
-

[questionfear]

AT&T isn't interested in having phones compete with the iPhone, though. Its relationship with Apple is its cash cow, and offering a powerful high-end model like the Nexus One might jeopardize this.

The Nexus One is reportedly going to be officially supported by T-Mobile, and it will be directly offering it to its customers. If Google's Andy Rubin made the same offer to AT&T, I'm certain he was rebuffed.

And if Google went ahead and added AT&T support without AT&T's cooperation, there would likely be little interest from consumers -- 90% of all phones sold in the U.S. are bought through a carrier.

Perhaps the situation will change when/if Apple lets Verizon offer the iPhone too. Then AT&T will have less to lose if it gets on Steve Jobs' nerves.
-

More important than AT&T, though, aren't the AT&T frequencies the same ones used in Canada? So it's more than just AT&T being snubbed, its Canada too. Yes, still dealing with the whole unlocked business, but >10% of USA/CA AT&T and Rogers customers is still nothing to sneeze at.

[blisterpeanuts]

Oh, I wasn't trying to imply that Google would have any cooperation with AT&T on this, or even that AT&T would want this; I was meaning that Google has the OOMPH to push its phone without the support of any carrier, and I think maybe people would buy it from them.

But I'm biased, since the last few phones I bought I did online, both from the manufacturers or resellers - phones that US carriers didn't sell. I know the average consumer won't do this, but maybe Google can use its might to sell phones outside of the carrier system... you know, like an ad campaign that talked about how it's only in the US where carriers dominate the phone market, "... but it doesn't HAVE to be that way!" etc. :-)

- Tim

The carriers and manufacturers, at least in the U.S., are targeting the masses rather than the savvy and discerning minority. People see "free phone" ads, sign a 2 year contract to get a pretty phone like the one in the ad, and that's the end of it.

Apple's iPhone penetrated the mass consciousness because of its ties to the famous iPod. Google's phones may make that leap as well, but so far the Google phones just aren't that sexy. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely getting an Android phone in the next couple months, but the 18-28 set is focused on cute handsets that do texting and email, and the ones who can afford it (or their parents) are going for the iPhone.

Face it--"Nexus one"? It's a geek toy, not an iPhone killer. It will just add to the overall smartphone infection rate. Sooner or later, though, an Android phone will hit the sweet spot of price versus features, and if Walt Mossberg at the WSJ gives it a thumbs up, we may see some serious competition heating up.

[Varjak]

At last! Me want.

I wonder if the name relates to Bladerunner. That implies newer and more evil versions as time goes by.

There's a long discussion on the Times's tech blog (Bits or Gadgetwise; I forget) about whether the name was appropriated from Philip K. Dick and mentioned that the family of PKD was thinking about suing for compensation.

Edit: One other thing. It was Google that pushed for a segment of the spectrum to be allocated to a company that wouldn't tie it to specific devices? I thought Verizon won that section of spectrum and agreed to make it 'open.'

[dunkaroo]

Why would anyone want this phone on AT&T? They are the pits. The bottom of the bottom. The WORST carrier in America. Way worse than T-mobile. I'm sure that there are certain areas of the country where reception is better on AT&T, but it can't be many places.