Nexus One – The “Google phone”

So, after much ado, rumor, hype and anticipation, Google has released information on its first foray into the cell phone hardware market — The Nexus One. This device promises to be a strong, though perhaps not revolutionary, addition to the line of Android-powered smartphones currently on the market.

Android, for those unaware, is Google’s smartphone operating system. Now approaching the release of version 2.1, this alternative to the more established mobile operating systems (Windows Mobile, iPhone, Palm, etc) is featured on more than 20 smartphone models. It features full phone, messaging, email and web browsing capabilities. In addition, users can watch videos from YouTube, use voice control to conduct searches on Google, or listen to complete libraries of music.

In the past, Google has remained in the role of software development. It has coordinated its development efforts with a number of hardware manufacturers, including notable names like HTC, a Taiwanese company who has released a number of Android-powered devices, and Motorola, who recently released Verizon’s flagship product, the “Droid”. That changed on January 5th, when Google announced the release of the Nexus One.

The Nexus One, manufactured by HTC, was developed under Google’s direction, and with access to Google’s latest Android 2.1 operating system. Though many had speculated that this “Google Phone” would be the first in a new class of data-only phones, using only a cellular or wi-fi data connection, not only for web browsing and email, but for regular phone calls as well, this is not to be the case with the Nexus One. Instead, the Nexus One remains a standard smartphone, intended to run on a variety of cellular networks.

Here are some of its technical specifications:

• Processor: Qualcomm “SnapDragon” QSD 8250 (running at 1GHz)
• Operating System: Android 2.1 (codename “Eclair”)
• Memory: 512MB Flash, 512MB RAM, 4GB microSD Card (expandable to 32GB microSD)
• Display: 3.7″ WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, 800×480 pixels, 100,000:1 contrast ratio
• Location and Orientation: AGPS, digital compass (magnetometer), accelerometer
• Size: 119 mm (4.68 in) x 59.8 mm (2.35 in) x 11.5 mm (0.45 in)
• Weight: 130 g (4.59 oz) with battery
• Battery: Removable 1400mAH battery, 7 hours talk time, 250 hours standby (on 3G networks)
• Camera: 5 megapixels, LED flash, autofocus, 2x digital zoom, location tagging from AGPS
• Video: 720×480 pixels @ 20fps or higher
• Audio: 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker, dual microphones (front and back)
• Input: Capacitive soft-keys (back, home, menu, search) with haptic feedback, clickable trackball, power button, volume control, light sensor, proximity sensor
• Cellular: UTMS, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, 3G etc (not AT&T compatible)
• Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A2DP

The hardware in this device is mostly very standard, compared to other recent Android devices like the Motorola Droid. Personally, I would have expected to see more for the very first phone being sold by Google. Nevertheless, there are a few noteworthy improvements.

Noise Reduction: The Nexus One features two input microphones, one on the front of the device (as is common), and another on the back. The rear one will be used to analyze the ambient sound in the room, allowing Android to generate an inverse sound to cancel that noise. This has not, to my knowledge, been found on any previous phone model.

Processor: The 1GHz SnapDragon CPU is one of the most powerful we’ve seen in a smartphone to date. This should allow the Nexus One to do more CPU-intensive things (including support for Adobe Flash).

Voice Input…Everywhere: The Nexus One is the first device to feature Android 2.1. One of the most notable feature improvements is that you can now use speech recognition as an input method on any text field. This means you’ll be able to input contact information, respond to SMS, and possibly even compose emails by voice. This is a feature I’ve been waiting for since I bought my Droid, and while it will be rolled out to devices like the Droid and Droid Eris over the next few months, the Nexus One has it right now.

Lack of a Sliding Keyboard: While many might call this a negative, I’ve found that keyboards on thin sliders like the Motorola Droid are just not good enough to use regularly. While my Samsung i760 had a very nice slide-out keyboard, it made the device much thicker — too thick for a modern slider. Google has opted to remove the keyboard, making the device lighter and thinner, and making the on-screen keyboard the only option for typing (and not a bad option at that).

Multiple Network Support: In addition to a model subsidized through T-Mobile, Google is also directly selling an unlocked model compatible with other GSM networks, and will be releasing a Verizon-friendly model soon.

In addition to the benefits, there are a few disadvantages this phone has.

Trackball: While most smartphones to date have relied on screen-swiping or button controls to scroll up or down a page of text, the Nexus One adds a trackball, allowing the users to navigate in that way. It’s apparently also clickable. I suppose time will tell whether or not this will be a preferred method of navigation, but personally, I’m going to label this as a rather useless addition to the device.

4GB microSD Card: With the iPhone 3GS at 16/32GB, and the Droid coming with 16GB pre-installed, the 4GB microSD card that comes with the Nexus One is just too small.

Price: $179 with the standard 2-year contract (data plan required), or $529 without. Given that the data plans are similarly priced to those on networks like AT&T and Verizon, the total cost of ownership of this phone with the contract is still very, very high. This, to me, provides little incentive to buy this model, since T-Mobile’s network provides far less coverage, and Verizon presently has the Motorola Droid available with similar features.

Overall, it looks like it’s a good phone, but it’s not the game-changer many hoped it might be. Will Google eventually do a data-only phone? I think so, but apparently they don’t feel the time is right, yet.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 3:29 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.