Google Reveals Nexus One Smartphone
On Tuesday, Google announced the launch of Nexus One, their very own and first smartphone to run on the Android operating system. The new rival to Apple’s iPhone will feature an 800×480 screen and a 5 megapixel camera with a flash.
The Nexus One also offers 512MB of Flash memory, as well as 512MB of RAM. It will be shipped with a 4GB Micro SD card, but will be able to support up to 32GB of expandable memory. The new smartphone will also have voice recognition throughout the Android operating system and advanced home screen and widget personalization.
Last week, reports revealed that the Nexus One will be priced at $529 unlocked directly from Google or $179 with a two-year contract through T-Mobile. However, Google announced yesterday that the phone will also be available through Verizon and Vodafone in Europe. The two companies have signed a deal to begin offering the smartphone in service plan packages starting this spring. The first orders, however, will be limited to only the US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore.
VP of engineering Andy Rubin said that the Nexus One will belong to an emerging device class called ’superphones’. The 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset will make it as powerful as a laptop from 3 or 4 years ago. This is Google’s way of raising the bar on device capabilities when it comes to creating a top-of-the-line experience for consumers, he continued. The company looks forward to working with operators and manufacturers to make more phones available in the worldwide market through this channel, Rubin added.