In a somewhat odd but not entirely unexpected move internet search giant Google has unveiled their very own smart phone. Titled the Google Nexus One it is set to compete firmly with Apple’s all-conquering iPhone. The Nexus runs on Google’s own open-source Android software, the operating system of choice for a number of current big-name phone manufacturers such as Motorola and Sony Ericsson.
While the use of Android will provide Google with a large number of downloadable and customisable applications straight out of the box it is still in its relative infancy compared with the goliath that is the iTunes App Store. The Android platform offers the Nexus some other cool but not unique features such as animated/interactive wallpaper and a wrap-around 3D cube feel to the edges, but it’s not quite ready to compete with Apple’s or Palm’s more polished fare just yet.
Key features on the new phone that are a marked improvement over the prodigious iPhone include: a faster 1Ghz processor (iPhone is 600Mhz); double the ram at 512Mb (256Mb), a 3.7in display (3.5in), and a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash (2 megapixel/no flash). But others such as the lack of multi-touch (despite the ability being present) leave the Nexus with an uphill battle on its hands given Apples propensity of releasing a yearly upgrade to the iPhone hardware.
The initial price point is set to be $530 (€366) and the new device is set to be sold directly by the internet search giant, as well as coming at a subsidised cost on the T-Mobile network in the US. European (or more crucially Irish) availability will be from Vodafone but only in the UK from Spring 2010. No word beyond that yet but expect some in the coming days.
So yes it’s quicker, cooler and a stab in the eye to the established order and undoubtedly it’ll be the first of many but is Google’s Nexus One the herald of a new dawn in communications or a faltering misstep for a company unfamiliar with producing a physical product?
Phone seems great from a hardware standpoint, but Droid on its own isn’t that great. It needs a better OS to sit on top of it. No one has solved the issue of the iPhone OS being so easy and nice to use.
Which leads me to not want the nexus one. Why? Because Apple will likely address all of these issues with an iPhone revision this year, and a likely iPhone design shift too. Bring it on, I say!
The look of the thing reminds me of a beige Ford Cortina my dad owned in the 80′s, which isn’t a good start.