android dome

When we first caught wind that Google had something in the works for the mobile space everyone assumed it was a phone, but as we all know the big announcement revealed it was much more, an open-source mobile operating system. The commercial launch of Android was important, but on the nation's fourth largest carrier it was also relatively quiet despite selling well. Last summer a second device- the HTC Magic/My Touch 3G- was added to T-Mobile's lineup with a major marketing push behind it, and Motorola made its Android debut with the CLIQ. In the fall Sprint became the second carrier to support Android with the launch of the HTC Hero followed quickly by the Samsung Moment. Android was gaining momentum, but what really pushed it over the brink was the launch of the heavily-hyped Motorola DROID by the nation's largest carrier, and alongside it the Hero-esque DROID ERIS. But amid the avalanche of new device launches and public awareness there again were whispers that we would see a Google Phone after all.

Say hello to the HTC Nexus One, sold exclusively through Google. This phone shouldn’t be new to you however; we first spied it way back in October as the HTC Passion. The Nexus One is indeed manufactured by HTC, and while the packaging makes no mention of this fact HTC has managed to get its logo directly on the phone. Specs are impressive: a 3.7” AMOLED display, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash, 3G and Wi-Fi and- most importantly- a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Oh, and it’s the first device to run Android 2.1 as well. In the box you’ll find a neoprene carrying pouch, cool-looking stereo headphones, microUSB data cable and AC adapter and an included 4GB microSD card installed.

Google calls the Nexus One a “superphone” and the “next step in Android evolution.” The handset is, as previously rumored, manufactured by HTC.

Most (if not all) of the rumored Nexus One specs and features have been confirmed: 3.7 inch AMOLED display with 480 x 800 pixels, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, trackball that includes a multi-colored notification LED, GPS, Wi-Fi, light and proximity sensors, compass, accelerometer, enhanced news and weather widgets, stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headset jack, 5MP autofocus camera with flash.

Visually the HTC Nexus One looks very similar to Sprint’s Hero, but uses the touch-sensitive navigation keys like the DROID ERIS. The layout of these keys are identical to the DROID, but the Nexus One adds a trackball (again, the smaller one like the ERIS) for added navigational options. In terms of feel we prefer the larger ball of the Hero but aesthetically we understand why HTC chose the smaller ball. The touch sensitive keys worked mostly ok when held in the typical position, though we did find ourselves having to hit the back key multiple times on several occasions. When sitting on a table in front of us we had issues with all of the keys, leading us to believe that the sensor is closer to the top of the keys than centered or on the bottom. This was mildly annoying.

The Nexus One is a beautifully boring phone. There is no emphasis on style, yet it still remains an object of desire. If HTC had evenly distributed the weight, or even made it bottom-heavy, the Nexus One would likely be our favorite phone out there. The iPhone isn’t the most comfortable thing to hold either, but at least it doesn’t jump out of our hands. We have a feeling that with a few weeks under our belt this will become less of an issue, but it still holds the Nexus One back from being truly great design-wise. Still, we do kind of want one.


Spec:
GENERAL
2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network: HSDPA 1700 / 2100 / 900
Announced: 2010, January
Status: Available. Released 2010, January

SIZE
Dimensions: 119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm
Weight: 130 g

DISPLAY
Type: AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
Size: 480 x 800 pixels, 3.7 inches
- Accelerometer sensor
- Touch-sensitive controls
- Trackball navigation
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off

SOUND
Alert types: Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone: Yes
- 3.5 mm audio jack

MEMORY
Phonebook: Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records: Practically unlimited
Internal: 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
Card slot: microSD up to 32GB, 4GB included, buy memory

DATA
GPRS: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
EDGE: Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G: HSDPA 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth: Yes, v2.1 with A2DP
Infrared port: No
USB: Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA
Primary: 5 MP, 2560?1920 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Features: Smile detection, geo-tagging
Video: Yes, D1 (720x480 pixels)@min. 20fps
Secondary: No

FEATURES
OS: Android OS, v2.1
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor
Messaging: SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
Browser: HTML
Radio: No
Games: Yes + downloadable
Colors: Brown (teflon coating)
GPS: Yes, with A-GPS support
Java: Yes, MIDP 2.0
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated microphone
- Digital compass
- Dedicated search key
- Google Search, Maps, Gmail
- YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration
- MP3/eAAC+/WAV music player
- MP4/H.263/H.264 video player
- Voice memo

BATTERY
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1400 mAh
Stand-by: Up to 290 h (2G) / Up to 250 h (3G)
Talk time: Up to 10 hours (2G) / Up to 7 hours (3G)
Music play: Up to 20 hours