Google Unveils Nexus One Phone, Coming To Vodafone In Spring 2010

To the surprise of literally no-one and the delight of quite a few more people, today Google finally admitted to the worst kept (or best leaked?) secret in the mobile business – the Nexus One.

Manufactured by HTC, the Nexus One features  a large 3.7″ 480 x 800 AMOLED display combined with a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, eager to present the new Android 2.1 ‘Eclair’ software at its best.

A 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, 3.5mm headphone jack, a (now retro) scrolling trackball, an array of constantly updating widgets and slick 3D photo gallery ensure that the Nexus One is no slouch when compared to its inevitable rival.

Despite the shiny capacitive display, multi-touch still remains elusive for the Nexus One. Do those iPhone patents stretch that far? We think so.

Whilst differing little from the upper echelon of Android-powered devices in terms of hardware, the Eclair update includes intriguing novelties like voice transcription, animated wallpapers and a redesigned slick user interface, expanding the home screens from three to five.

Whether it runs faster than the Droid has been a current bone of contention, and first impressions certainly show the Nexus One to be a tad more nimble at navigating menus and scrolling web pages than the Motorola monolith.

It is also equipped with the suite Google applications that have become synonymous with Android including Gmail and the new Google Maps Navigation that debuted on the Motorola Droid.

Touted as both “the next step in the evolution of Android” and the world’s first “superphone” in today’s event, the Nexus One is unique in that Google themselves will sell the handset, SIM-free, directly through an online web store, in addition to the usual subsided method through the networks (in this case, T-Mobile in the US and Vodafone this Spring in Europe).

Available immediately in the US, the online store allows you to purchase the Nexus One on a two-year T-Mobile contract for $179.99, with $79.99 monthly line rental.

SIM-free, the Nexus One costs a handsome $529.00, somewhat steeper than original reports suggested, but at the equivalent of only £330, falling some ways below the unshackled competition.

Upon signing up for a GMail account (as Google Checkout handles the inevitable purchase of plenty of apps), the GSM-ready Nexus One was easily bundled with shipping to the UK costing a mere $28.

With shipping availability to the US, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong, it seems early adopters will not have to brave the wilds of eBay to snap up the latest and greatest in Android hardware.

Maybe that’s where the essence of Google’s open mentality remains in this move. Whilst many speculated that a move into the hardware business might annoy Android-embracing manufacturers like Motorola and Sony Ericsson with their forthcoming XPERIA X10, the Nexus One is portrayed more as an idea of offering choice.

The Nexus One may not be geared to brawl with the iPhone toe-to-toe, but it is certainly a great unfiltered view at what Google, HTC and the Android platform can do when pushed. Who knows, it might even spur other Android adopters to aim higher, rather than abandon hope for attracting interest in their phones packing the fledgling software.

Google cleverly tested the waters for industry reaction to the Nexus One over the last few weeks by drip feeding the masses – a tweet from an employee here, a leaked Flickr image there. The only thing people truly baulked at was the price, and that was only on the side of the Atlantic not accustomed to unlocked phone prices.

Whether the Nexus One is remembered as a landmark Android phone in terms of sales remains to be seen.

What it did do, from launching just before the press descend onto the gadget-seeker’s paradise that is CES, to disseminating crumbs of new information through a myriad of sources, and even garnering a full review before an official announcement, is get people excited about a new mobile phone again.

And that is something that hasn’t happened for quite some time…

Check out the culmination of  ‘web meets phone’ in the video below.

Tags: android, android 2.1, eclair, google phone, nexus, nexus one