Google's Nexus One is here!
submitted by markodonoghue on 07 January 2010
Google has released the Nexus One but analysts have been left unmoved by the acclaimed superphone.
The Nexus One runs on the 1Ghz Snapdragon platform and Android 2.1 which features a 5 megapixel camera and a 3.7in OLED display. It sadly doesn't feature the iPhone's multi touch ability. Google claim seven hours of talk time or up to five hours of internet use.
Although its built by HTC, the Nexus One is branded by Google and will only be available through Google's own website. The phone may sound like every other Android powered smartphone on the market but Google was keen to point out that its had extended voice-recognition to every aspect of the device.
This allows people to write text messages, emails, tweets or Facebook posts by speaking. In a presentation, a Google engineer demonstrated the feature by speaking the test message "Check out this new voice keyboard! I just hope this demo works." It seemed to work, though it could well vary from voice to voice. The Nexus One also features an interesting 'active noise cancellation' feature which will fade out background noise when you're speaking in a busy area.
The new Google smartphone is described as "the next stage in the evolution of Android".
Android currently has a 3.5% share of the global smartphone market, in comparison to Nokia which hold 39%, RIM which hold 21% and Apple which hold 17%. Nokia have years behind them so it's not surprising that they hold over a third of shares.
Jeff Rath, Canaccord Adams analyst said "It wasn't the game-changer people thought it could be. It's very close to the Droid, some people will debate whether it's better. But it looks like an incremental improvement rather than a blow-the-doors-off improvement".
Gartner analyst Nick Jones claimed that the big news wasn't the Nexus One, but Google's decision to start selling products to customers directly. "When all’s said and done it’s yet another high-end smartphone, in this case manufactured by HTC," says Jones.
This is just the start of Google selling serous products on the market, to compete with other major brands such as Apple and Microsoft. I think we wouldn't be too surprised if Google released their own branded netbook in the near future.
The phone is currently being sold in the US for $179 on a two-year contract, or $529 unlocked. Google has confirmed plans to bring the Nexus One to the UK through Vodafone but there are no dates as of yet.
Submitted by:
Mark O'Donoghue
Associated Links:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/354499/googles-nexus-one-meets-cool-reception
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