Holiday Gift Guide »

Ultrabrief: Rumour: The Google Phone has a name: Nexus One

Categories: Android, HTC, Rumors
By: , IntoMobile
Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 5:20 PM

The Wall Street Journal, in their old journalism way of working, has gathered up what the internet has been talking about over the past 24 hours, without linking to their sources, and made a neat and concise article explaining the situation behind the “Google Phone”. If you’re been reading IntoMobile today then you’re familiar with the drama, but I digress, here is the link to the article, and here are the quotes you should care about:

“The phone is called the Nexus One and is being manufactured for Google by HTC.”

“The Internet giant is taking a new, and potentially risky, approach to selling the device. Rather than selling the phone through a wireless carrier–the way the bulk of phones are sold in the U.S. today–Google plans to sell the Nexus One itself online. Users will have to buy cellular service for the device separately.”

“The move could alienate wireless carriers and handset makers that offer Android phones and do not want to compete with Google.”

“The move also marks a rare foray into direct sales for Google. With the exception of an appliance it markets as a search tool to businesses, the company hasn’t sold hardware in the past.”

PS: If the link to the article doesn’t work, then click the first link in these search results. It’s a neat trick to get around The Wall Street Journal‘s paywall.

[Hat tip to @atmasphere]

Update: John Gruber, a huge Apple fan who has a good track record at getting rumours right, just tweeted this: “The bummer I’m hearing about Nexus One: it’s GSM and unlocked, but on T-Mobile’s 3G band, so it works on AT&T but EDGE-only.”

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • Deckard

    Nexus One? Inspired by Blade Runner? Watch out for Nexus 6 models…they’ll do more than kill your battery.

  • Shea

    I really don’t think not having AT&T 3G will make much of a differe. AT&T already has the iphone for a while longer, but t-mobile has great customer service and plans that allow users to pick and choose their own palns. This spells great success for the Nexus One if it can compete with the Motorola Droid. It all depends on what the final price will be as well, in order for it to be successful. My guess is for this phone to be successful it will have to be below the $300 threshhold without contract, which will be tough to do. The Nexus One would need low end hardware to compete at this price point. Think 3.0 MP camera without flash, minimal video recording capabilities if any, partial touch screen with dedicated buttons. One thing you can count on is the Google experience exactly how the software engineers envisioned it on a mobile device. For better or for worse, the Nexsus One is here.

  • chris

    … thats this is kinda stupid. because you can buy the g1 dev phone… directly from google?