ABC News has published this doomsday piece by Michael S. Malone, who notes that while Google’s Nexus One device is getting a lot of buzz, it won’t rightfully challenge Apple’s iPhone hegemony.

Google is expected to unveil the device Jan. 5 at an Android press event at the company’s Mountain View, Calif., Googleplex. We know the device is made by HTC, runs Android 2.1 and is super fast, with a Motorola Droid-like big touchscreen.

Documents indicate Google will sell the phone online for $529.99 unlocked or $179.99 through T-Mobile with a two-year contract.

Read the full story on eWeek.

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• Google Nexus phone to debut Tuesday? (cnn.com)

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Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, and he had the Google Phone. Here are some of his thoughts from his blog post:

• It looked to me like a thinner Droid Eris with a larger, more impressive screen (both are made by HTC; Nexus One has no “Sense” interface)
• The screen resolution was great and crisp
• The stand-out dimension of the phone in my brief time with it was its speed; it was extremely fast (running on the T-Mobile network)
• It features the “new” version of the Android Market, which is a considerable step up from what exists now

This is clearly now the “flagship” Android device; it’s no longer the Motorola “Droid.” In many ways the Droid is clunky and awkward by comparison.

It appears to be faster than the iPhone 3GS but I didn’t have any side-by-side comparison opportunity. It has multi-tasking and Google Navigation, Voice Search and so on. But the iPhone still represents a more “complete” and “integrated” device in my view. Others will probably disagree. Indeed, this is probably the first Android device that is a true substitute for the iPhone. That represents danger for Apple unless it comes out from under the AT&T relationship next year; Android could blunt iPhone sales.

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• Nexus One Google Phone Could Arrive on T-Mobile January 5th [Googe] (gizmodo.com)

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Google said in a corporate blog on Saturday that it has developed a phone based on its Android mobile operating system and distributed it to employees to try out. Soon after, pictures of the phone surfaced on the Twitter feeds of employees and outside bloggers with details that the device would be launched next month and sold directly to consumers. The new phone would be capable of operating on any network, according to a source close to the company who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Google’s approach would run counter to the current practices of handset makers and carriers that partner up in exclusive deals to market and sell phones, and provide mobile service. AT&T, for instance, has been the sole provider of service for Apple’s iPhone since the device was launched in 2007. Sprint tied up with Palm for its Pre smart phone earlier this year, and Verizon exclusively runs several versions of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.

…

“This is a replica of the open-versus-closed war of the IBM mainframe versus the Macintosh for the mobile space,” said Tim Wu, a professor of law at Columbia University. “And Google is settling in for a long war here.”

Read the full story on the Washington Post

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Engadget Dec. 14 scored new pictures and details of the Google Nexus One smartphone that will challenge Apple’s iPhone as a new GSM device. Engadget said the device boasts microSD expansion, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and covers quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE with UMTS/HSUPA on 850/1,700/1,900 frequencies. Only T-Mobile and AT&T propel GSM in the U.S., and T-Mobile looks to be the phone’s sole supporter. Some are accusing Google of hypocrisy after Google Android engineering chief Andy Rubin said in October Google would not build hardware, implying that Google would not produce its own phone.

Layers of the onion that is the Nexus One Google phone continue to get peeled away by industry insiders, as Engadget Dec. 14 scored new pictures and details of the smartphone that will challenge Apple’s iPhone as a new GSM device.
Engadget said the device boasts microSD expansion, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and covers quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE with UMTS/HSUPA on 850/1,700/1,900 frequencies.
A Google spokesperson declined to comment on any of the details, pointing instead to the company’s blog post about how it gave its employees a phone, which seems to be the Nexus One, to test.
Only T-Mobile and AT&T, sole carrier of the iPhone, propel GSM in the United States, and AllThingsDigital said T-Mobile will indeed support the Nexus One. The device won’t work on Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

Read the full story on eWeek

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