Google Officially Unveils ‘Nexus One’

Happy new year, everyone!  Today, Google held a press event at its headquarters to unveil the ‘Nexus One’ – aka, the Google Phone.  Google vice president Mario Queiroz said that the new Nexus One is a “superphone” and an “exemplar of what’s possible” on mobile phones running Android.  Several other people spoke at the event as well, including Google VP of engineering Andy Rubin, HTC CEO Peter Chou, and even Motorola’s Co-CEO Sanjay Jha. Shots and videos have been leaking for months showing off this device.  And even though we all knew the Nexus One was coming, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a stellar looking phone that carries a serious set of technical specifications that blows even the iPhone 3GS out of the water.  Here’s the lowdown on the device:

Hardware:

• A 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.  That’s super fast for a phone!
• A  480×800 AMOLED screen – consumes less power than a typical OLED screen.
• A 5.0 MP camera with a LED flash.
• A trackball with a multicolored backlight, for different notifications.
• A2DP Stereo Bluetooth and Wireless-N capabilities.
• 2 microphones for “active noise suppression.”
• Compass, GPS, light and proximity sensors, and accelerometers
• A 1400mAH battery, for 5 hours of 3G browsing or 7 hours of 3G talk.
• Skinnier than a standard pencil.
• A QR code printed on the back, which, when read, takes you to an android-themed game of Memory.

Software:

• The Nexus One sports the new Android 2.1 firmware, which is gorgeous looking, and only available on the Nexus One for right now.  It’ll be on the Droid soon enough
• 5 home screens
• Live Wallpapers, or interactive backgrounds.
• A revamped photo gallery
• Background syncing to online Picasa photo galleries
• Voice enabled text fields using Google’s voice recognition
• Apps will soon be able to stored on an external SD card
• No multitouch in the default Google Apps.
• According to Gizmodo, “If you want Android phones, this is the one to get.”
• According to TechCrunch, “The Droid You’re Looking For”
• The phone has been rooted, or,  “jailbroken.”

Carriers and Pricing:

• The phone is $530 to buy it unlocked: meaning, you can use it with any carrier, including AT&T,  although it won’t work with AT&T’s 3G service.
• The phone is $179 if you want to buy it with a 2 year contract with T-Mobile. T-Mobile offers a plan for $80 including 500 minutes and unlimited internet and TXT/SMS.
• The phone is said to come to Verizon some time this spring.
• If you live in Europe, the phone will come to Vodaphone sometime in the spring as well.
• You can get the phone custom engraved.
• Buy it here.

Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on one and give it a shot.  I liked the Droid, so I imagine I’ll enjoy the Nexus One quite a bit as well.  Apparently, Verizon and other carriers who are using the Android platform are not concerned that this will negatively impact their business.  I’m not so sure.  Google worked super close with HTC to make sure this is the shining star of the Android line.  We’ll have to see how it plays out.

Thanks to Salem from TechnoHeads.org for allowing me to use his excellent, simplified list of what the Nexus One is all about.