San Francisco: Internet search giant Google has unveiled its first mobile phone and increased the pressure on Apple's iPhone in a mobile market that many analysts predict will come to dominate the internet in the coming years.
Google's Nexus One is also called iPhone killer by many analysts. Nexus One beats iPhone in many criterias such has camera and pricing. In terms of pricing plans in the U.S for unlimited usage, Apple's iPhone cost $3,780 over 24 months as compared to Google's Nexus one $2,580, almost 50 percent more, according to Tech Crunch.
Google said it would sell the phone from its website for $530 and will ship the phones to the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. Customers can also buy a subsidized device together with two-year service plans for $180, from the top U.S. carrier Verizon, as well as fourth-placed carrier T Mobile.
"The Nexus One belongs in the emerging class of devices which we call 'superphones,' with the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset making it as powerful as your laptop computer of three to four years ago. It's our way to raise the bar on what's possible when it comes to creating the best mobile experience for consumers," said Andy Rubin, Vice President of Engineering, Google. "We look forward to working with handset manufacturers and operators to bring more phones to market through this channel worldwide."
Lets take a look at technical specifications of this phone. The phone has 3.7" AMOLED 480x800 WVGA display and weighs 130g. Camera is quite impressive with 5 megapixel auto focus with flash and geo tagging. It has a 512MB Flash, 512MB RAM memory and comes with a 4GB removable SD card. Memory can be extended upto 32 GB. In terms of audio, it has a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack with four contacts for inline voice and remote control.
It also has the typical Android features like Google Maps Navigation, Email, Phone book, Android Market and Quick Contacts. The phone also has a voice-enabled keyboard for all text fields. User can speak a text message, instant message, tweet, Facebook update, or complete an email. User can also record Hi-Res MPEG4 video, and then upload to YouTube with one click.
Google previously released its Android operating system for phones, which has been adopted by manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola and HTC. But the Nexus One is the first device to be branded by Google and sold directly to customers.
"The Nexus One represents the unique combination of design and innovation two companies like Google and HTC can have when they collaborate," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "The Nexus One continues HTC's strategy of offering people a portfolio of phones that meet their diverse needs."
