Google’s Nexus One now for sale

Jacqueline DiOrio 6 Jan, 2010 at 4:44pm ET Article published in Tech

feature Yesterday, Google announced that their long awaited “Superphone”, the Nexus One, is finally for sale.

The Nexus One is selling for $529 completely unlocked, so it can be used on any carrier that supports the 900/1700/2100MHz bands. The cost of the phone is $170 with T-Mobile with a new 2 year contract of $79.00 a month. Existing T-Mobile users will pay $279 for the phone, or $379 for users that are updating their data plans.

Many have claimed that Google selling the phone without a specific carrier contract may change the US mobile market completely, but consumers will have to wait a bit for much choice: while the unlocked phone can be used on AT&T, you won’t get the full 3G experience, and a CDMA version of the phone won’t hit Verizon until the spring. It is a significant change for the industry, however, because it gives users more freedom in choosing a phone and network than before.

Other exclusive features to the Nexus One include Flash 10.1 and Android 2.1; Motorola’s Droid uses 2.0. Android 2.1 appears to be a more polished version of 2.0, with the biggest addition being that all text fields are voice enabled. While the tech on that isn’t perfect yet, the ability to voice text could be a big asset in some situations. The phone is also as thin as a pencil, and is slightly lighter and has a bigger screen than Apple’s iPhone.

The Nexus One’s previously reported specs remain unchanged.

Comments

6 Jan 2010 ~ 5:07pm MachineDog Flash 10.1 isn't an exclusive feature on the Nexus One. I am presuming that it is A) still in beta and is not shipping on the Nexus One and B) will be available for all Android phones (pending hardware). I recall watching video way back of Adobe doing demos on the pre, droid (inside of a box and all taped up, this was before it's release), and the G1. I think that video was just of another preview of Flash 10.1, as I haven't seen any confirmation of it actually being shipped on the phone.

As for 2.1, it was ported to the droid like 2 weeks ago if anyone out there wants to root their droid. It's also been confirmed that they are not calling Android 2.1 Flan (a geeky tidbit); 2.1 will be Eclair as the previous version. People were speculating this before due to the build numbers.

(Also, I will burn you if you say the S-word that Google made up again.)

Edit: Oh, and another thing. The ease of rooting the Nexus One was built in, which is another revolutionary thing. I think it essentially has an unlocked bootloader, too, from the get go? But I cannot confirm that. Anyone know?
6 Jan 2010 ~ 5:20pm GnomeQueen I suppose that I should say that these feaures are "currently" exclusive to the Nexus One. No other phones support them right now (without rooting).

(Superphone)
6 Jan 2010 ~ 5:54pm Garg From Engadget's review, it sounds like the Droid is a better fit for me. But that's mainly because I can't give up a physical keyboard after getting my G1.

I could have been tempted to the Nexus One, but no multitouch? Come on.
6 Jan 2010 ~ 6:47pm ardichoke I can't wait to get my hands on a Nexus One. As far as I've been able to tell, multitouch is enabled, just not in any of the stock software. Apps can still use it though (Dolphin Browser ftw). If that isn't true, given the fact that the multitouch code exists in Android since the 1.0 release, you can expect for someone to release a build with it turned on the same way CyanogenMod did for the G1 and myTouch.

Also, superphone, superphone, superphone
6 Jan 2010 ~ 7:23pm NiGHTS I didn't think lack of multitouch would be a big thing until I tried to push shift and a letter to capitalize at the same time. It was extremely annoying at first, which has developed into a minor inconvienence now.
6 Jan 2010 ~ 7:25pm ardichoke It's a phone man, gotta get into the tap mentality. You tap shift then tap the letter. tap tap tappity tap tap tap. Tap.
6 Jan 2010 ~ 7:28pm NiGHTS My Curve didn't have me fight the natural motion of holding shift while typing... :/
6 Jan 2010 ~ 7:39pm MachineDog I'm rather disappointed in Google on the multitouch front. I'm running the baked in multitouch browser from the GSM version of the Droid and it works well.
6 Jan 2010 ~ 7:41pm ardichoke Don't blame Google. It all comes down to Apple patenting the whole concept of multitouch, which, as I've mentioned many times before on Icrontic, is a fat load of bullshit. If I were in charge at Google I'd do the same thing. A lawsuit from the sphincters at Cupertino is the last thing I'd want to risk.
6 Jan 2010 ~ 8:43pm mas0n Allowing patents on concepts instead of specific implementations is definitely complete BS. It's bad for almost everyone involved. I really wish someone with deep pockets would take it to the courts.
7 Jan 2010 ~ 1:44am Komete It's not just issuing patents on concepts, with multi touch, it's freaking finger gestures we are talking about. To me it's like someone getting a patent on walking. It's ridiculous.
7 Jan 2010 ~ 3:22pm MachineDog Actually any speculation that Apple has patents that would keep Google releasing a multitouch browser in the US is completely false. This is further evidenced by webOS, Windows Vista/7, Flash, etc. fully supporting multitouch.
7 Jan 2010 ~ 3:26pm GnomeQueen I was under the impression that the patents were on phones specifically.
7 Jan 2010 ~ 3:27pm Snarkasm Apple has multitouch patents, and they cover all the "standard" ways of doing anything multitouch.
7 Jan 2010 ~ 6:50pm Thrax

MachineDog wrote:

Actually any speculation that Apple has patents that would keep Google releasing a multitouch browser in the US is completely false. This is further evidenced by webOS, Windows Vista/7, Flash, etc. fully supporting multitouch.

Actually, uh, they do.
8 Jan 2010 ~ 11:32am mirage I think (or wish) this phone will be a huge success for Google mostly to teach the control freaks at Apple a lesson or two. It is so refreshing to see an expansion card slot and more freedom for installing applications. I think I want this phone, well, maybe when the unlocked price is closer to $350