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As you all know, Google started selling the Nexus One phone this week. They also provide their Android OS to various other smart phone manufactures. Since Google now sells their own branded phone, it is believed that handset makers will be discouraged from working with Google since it may reflect a conflict of interest between Google and the phone manufacturer. They may prioritize their own branded Nexus One over the manufacturer’s product.
“No one has ever succeeded in selling their own device while trying to license to partners simultaneously,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Los Angeles-based research firm Interpret LLC. “As much as Google can say it’s not a Google phone, the phone says Google on it. They’re going to have to convince their licensees they’re not in competition with them.”
Do you think it is a conflict of interest for Google to develop their own smart phones as well as the OS for other manufacturers’ phones? We will see how it all plays out.
[via BusinessWeek]
I’m not sure how much “google” the phone is. It has “htc” logos printed on it, so it could just be another htc phone. Isn’t it just a standard 2.1 build? is there anything that is unique to it, htc has touchflo, motorola has blurr. What is google adding that is unique to this handset?
Google did not make the phone, HTC did. Google just had more input of what they wanted from it. They probably got tired of asking a phone manufacturer to make one phone that had what “Google” wanted it to have. Look at what Android phones are out now. Hardly any have the same Android version. Hardware and quality are also a hodgepodge. This comes from each carrier and the many phone manufacturers having control of what gets produced. Google just cut the carrier out of the equation and had the manufacturer make a phone, THEN they go to the carriers and ask “Do you want to have this phone on your network”
“No one has ever succeeded in selling their own device while trying to license to partners simultaneously,” … um, what about Microsoft? Im using a STONE COMPUTER right now.
i think there is too many carriers with an android planned release this year to really matter (there’s alot of contracted android devices set in stone for X amount of time from now), the ball is already rolling, and just like all the other phones its pretty much carrier specific for now on T-Mobile. If it was available to ALL carriers (or more than 2-3) then i might see a competition problem but until then its all about preference.
Its all about getting android noticed (i think), most of the higher end phones will be the same with different hardware design, so again it still goes back to preference even with multiple carriers having the n1. If the droid and the n1 came out the same time on verizon i still would of gotten the droid, dgaf about 1 ghz processor.
Google need to start selling other Android handsets online via their http://www.google.com/phone URL. If they sold Droids, Milestones, Heros, X10s, etc without contracts as well, at least other handset makers would feel they were getting a slice of the pie.
The big danger is than Google hold things back, or prevent other OHA members getting the latest version of Android in order to gain competitive advantage… is 2.1 open source and available to Motorola, Samsung, SE, etc yet I wonder?
Android also needs more publicty as ‘Android’. The risk is that the public only see one ‘Googlephone’ not many Android phones.
The G1 has a Google logo on it. If that wasn’t a problem then, why should it be now?
How is this any different from the G1 which has the Google name on it’s back plate. And an article I read earlier on today confirms that Google didn’t develop the hardware or its design. The Nexus 1 was developed just the same way as the G1 was; they told manufacturers what specs they wanted in the phone and provided the OS. Handset makers knew Google was doing this before they jumped on the android bandwagon. The Nexus One is just another “google experience” phone, and there has been 2 of these in the past.
This isn’t a new or unique situation at all and others have done just fine, despite Michael’s claims.
It makes me chuckle when folk try to give companies like Google business advice.
No.
Google have given a great OS to all these operators for free, and they can be sure its going to be getting better and better with great speed.
Google have given them a chance to compete with iPhone.
Judging by the tone of the Motorola guy at the Nexus One launch, the other vendors will be very happy to have an invigorated app Market and people thinking out of the little iPhone box.
Mark.
You can buy an Iphone at an Apple store, or an ATT store. Currently only ATT branded ones, but I bet sooner or later, you will be able to buy an Iphone for other carriers as well. Google wants people to be able to buy a phone with their operating system and bring it to any carrier you like, currently only Tmobile ones, but …you get my drift.
I don’t see it as a necessary conflict. Now, if Google was selling this phone unlocked for $200 w/o a service contract, it came with multitouch, and worked on all stateside GSM and CDMA providers, then I’d say it would be not so smart of a move.
Unfortunately, this is what most of us dream of: a subsidized phone by Google running the latest version of Android on a really fast processor with a good amount of RAM, good-sized flash storage (10+ GB), expandable microSD storage (up to 32GB), true multitouch supported in hardware and across all software apps, which runs on AT&T 3g and EDGE, T-Mobile 3G and EDGE, Verizon and Sprint, all for under $300.
If Google announced a phone like that, not only would they REALLY give Apple a run for its money, they’d sell out in record time. Android Market would flourish. Everyone would have the phone because it meant FREEDOM. People would use their iPhones as paperweights and rejoice in the streets. There would be a parade. A parade.
However, this incredibly good thing would be perceived as EVIL to some, which just points back to the ridiculousity of mankind.
Aside from all hopes and dreams of world peace and a phone with no contract, there is still a huge market for an amazing phone.
The Droid is sweet, but it has no default software multitouch and is sadly without a snapdragon.
The Nexus One is also sweet in different ways, with a snapdragon processor, still without multitouch, awesome UI, but minus the keyboard.
What are we to do? I’m still just a sad, lonely AT&T customer with no options except to buy a Nexus One at $530 with no AT&T 3G support. I’m not complaining, but AT&T is kind of a pretty big carrier here in the US, so why aren’t we seeing any Android phones we’d actually WANT to buy for our network? Pairing the Nexus One with T-Mobile AND AT&T… now THAT would be a significant leap forward.
I would like to point out that all android phones are branded with a Google logo haha
I don’t think so. Google fans/slaves (like me) will go for the Nexus ONE, but manufacturers can still convince people to buy theirs.
Besides, Android phones are still being produced (which mean that manufactures won’t just stop).
How can they pass an opportunity to get a free great OS that they are free to modify as they please?
My understanding (as an Android user) was that if you use the stock Android you can put ‘with Google’ on your handset, and if you modify the system image (HTC Sense, MotoBLUR, etc.) you can’t.
Hence the G1 has the Google logo on it. My Droid has the Google logo on it. The Hero/Eris, the Cliq and so on do not. I had assumed the Nexus One’s use of the Google logo was under the same terms as the G1/Droid/et al.
As beautiful as the Nexus is, I am not rushing to go out and buy it because the one thing I have learnt from jumping on the g1 as soon as it came out is that android phones are rapidly expanding and the next hot thing is around the corner. When my 2 year contract expires in October, the N1 would have been replaced by the N2 or 3 there would be at least 30 new phones in the market, with the new hotness being another “google experience” phone and the latest release of android would be 2.6 or something. SO as long as updates are still being rolled out to the g1 I am going to bide my time and watch and see where google goes with Android over the year.
@TK… You don’t have to wait too long for your android phones, AT&T announced 5 android phones for this year.
I’m still waiting for an awesome phone from Sprint running Android. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Moment (helluva lot better than the Pre), but I’m starting to get tired of Sprint getting the Google shaft. Everything goes to VZW or TMO. C’mon Sprint!! Hop on this crap!! ha ha
PS. Anyone have any word on 2.1 for Sprint yet?
I may be mistaken, but Android-powered phones have “with Google(tm)” stamped on it, yet the Nexus One has “Google(tm)” on it.
G1 has no HTC brand or logo on it but it does have the google logo on the back (tmo in the front)… no body complained about it… google could say that the logo on the back means that its a google experience phone?
in a different metter… does anybody know if the updated for the unlocked nexus one will be done by google? or if not, by who?
I think most of the responses from everyone seem to be on the right track with it is not a Google phone but an HTC phone, but still missing a key factor. Google doesn’t want to be wind up in the same boat as Microsoft. What I mean is they don’t want a whole slew of random hardware and specs that make it impossible for the Android Market apps to be available to everyone. Not to mention if you are trying to support “everything” the quality of your product usually is lower because you have less control. There needs to be a balance. Besides Google knows we need variety for competition but it would be impossible to support everything and especially while doing it well. The need some form of coherence. So it makes sense that Google would have contracted HTC to make this “super phone” not as competition, but as a “guideline” and a proof of concept on many fronts. They need to be able to push Android to it’s limits to help inspire other hardware manufactures. They need the manufactures to be on the same page in terms of feature sets. Google need Android to “sell”, and the best way to sell software is with more software (applications, widgets, etc). They need ALL the phones to be able to run ALL of the apps, if Google and it’s partners can sell a plethora of phones that can work with all the awesome apps they have basically found away to control the user experience making it better (in theory) while not stifling competition. On one last note they are also showing the hardware manufactures that with the right phone specs people will buy the phone subsidized or not. I personally think offering the same exact phone across multiple carriers is a great idea especially when some of your carriers are still willing to subsidize without the exclusivity. I believe our lack of technology in the consumer market is due to the control over the hardware the carriers are willing to sell. Especially now that we have Google’s Android to let the handset makers focus where they need to, the hardware. Look at AT&T, they sucked so much life out of the iPhone at first because they “couldn’t” support all of the features.
@ Rachel: I must contest. My Eris has “with Google” on the back
My Droid says, “Motorola”, “Verizon”, and “Google” on it. Seems to be a win for all three, thus far.
Google’s plan is clear.
It let Android free in the wild si builder like Samsung, LG or Moto could build phone under Android. This last 1 year, and it was enough time to have a decent community base and to have a decent market.
Google oppose himself at Apple, the only way to succeed is not to launch a phone without any app in the market.
By doing this, they lauch a phone with over 20k app, and a big fan community behind.
My Milestone doesn’t say Google anywhere on it.
So there.
What is the big deal? There was once a time when everyone was using Symbian. Nokia, which owned symbian, was still selling phones alongside Samsung that also used Symbian’s OS.
The real enemy of Google’s Nexus is anyone NOT using it: that would be the symbian’s of this world. Every phone manufacturer ought to use Android instead. I think Google wanted to make their own hardware simply to ensure they could control the entire user experience – For example, the HTC Hero failed miserably when it came to hardware specs; however, the OS was pretty good, but unless you can control the entire user experience, you’re just setting yourself up to be 2nd best.
What everyone fails to understand is that the Nexus is a 5mp camera and is manufactured by HTC. That means that the margin of profit isn’t brilliant for Google. Therefore, phone manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, SE, Nokia (who knows!) would only need to come up with their own Android rendition, with a higher camera specification, and would easily make a greater profit than what Nexus One would bring to Google.
Its like buying a accord car from the dealer and then getting upset if honda itself decides sell the card directly.
Bottom line is google is providing android to motorola, samsung, lg, etc., so they should not complaint if google decides to sell phones
1)I think Google made a very good move to show to people the possibilities of android. I have ordered one for myself.
2)I like it being sold unlocked. I wish it was selling it to more countries all over the world immediately.
3)Its a way to push manufacturers to produce better quality android phones.(my existing one is htc magic vodafone murdered my low ram) Android is a winner and companies should produce hardware to allow the full potential of it. Phone manufacturers are adopting android but with not so many great specifications. My vision on android, being open source, is to buy a good specs phone and update with newer versions of the os, when they become available. But what we see now is network operators messing about with the updates, delaying ect.
4)Also Google gives choice to the people to have a great phone and choose whatever carrier they want. That’s how i am used to do in Europe.
5) Good android phones should reach all people, and not waiting whether or not the network operator will sell it, or whether or not the phone manufacturer should create a good specs phone. This move has push both parties to reconsider.
The Nexus One isn’t being marketed as Google’s own phone, as much as people believe the contrary. The truth is that Google is going to sell flagship Android phones directly for each carrier and for all manufacturers that meet their basic specifications. I’m betting that very soon you’ll see a Motorola phone being sold through Google.com. You’ll also see phones for different carriers. All Google is doing is to try to create a new sales channel in the existing market, in an attempt to circumvent the carriers. Manufacturers will still be fine.
all android-based phones should be sold in google’s store, enough with the greedy ebay sellers. Not everyone lives in the u.s.
I’m beginning to think that Gartenberg either hates Android, doesn’t want Google to succeed, or is upset that Android/Google is stealing the thunder from his smartphone platform of choice. He has written a few FUD pieces about Android as of late.
Google can sell their OS and put their brand on any hardware they want…I believe it really has no affect that until they build out a cell/wireless network to really compete…what it will come down to is the actual network on what user will be using to run the phone and OS properly. If the wireless network is poor or spotty i.e.: AT&T or Sprint then it doesn’t matter what OS or hardware the user has. One of the main success of the “Droid” with Verizon Wireless is the network…it goes hand in hand.
@gwgwgw
You’re using a Microsoft built computer?
the point you’e missing is that Google doesn’t charge for the Android OS licenses. That’s the WHOLE FREAKING POINT. The OPEN HANDSET ALLIANCE..
Google provides MOST if not all the code for Android, then they simply GIVE it to the manufacturers. The manufacturers don’t have to spend ANY money for R & D, or building code for the OS.. So are they going to listen to Google when Google says they want phones built a certain way? UM YEAH of course!!!
It’s like you think HTC isn’t making money off every single Nexus One sold..
Motorola already said they would be building a similar “Google Experience Device”
See the difference between Microsoft and Google is that Google gives the OS away. Microsoft sells each Licensed OS
This is a lame non-story really. Google doesn’t call the Nexus One “The Google Phone,” that was what all the online rumor mongers were calling it. Ridiculously enough mainstream news reporters announced that “the Google phone is here” above comments about the Nexus One. Really people stop it already. Google specifically said that they didn’t make the phone, HTC does. In fact there is nothing to separate the Nexus One from all other iterations of Android on any other device. Aside from the fact that Google is selling it direct to consumers initially won’t even stop it necessarily from being sold in T-Mobile (or Verizon and Vodaphone stores once they get it) a few months down the road. Sure there are whisperings that are going around that might hurt Google’s true intentions, but the those whisperings can only hurt them if they persist through rumors and gossip…just because you’re not the source of the gossip doesn’t mean you should spread it around.
With the Nexus One and the Droid (which will be offered soon on the Google site,) Google has basically put their stamp of approval on what they feel will best showcase their OS and apps. Whereas the if their free OS is put on subpar hardware and performs like crap they prefer to stay away from. There is a reason the Droid will be on the site and not the Eris.
I don’t see any great problem here. A lot of the Android handset variation is due to market segmentation amongst customers, different pricing, hardware/software keyboard, need for a camera, etc, etc. In that respect, there’s still a lot of scope for other manufacturers to build Android devices running on a variety of different hardware, yet also have access to the Android Market. As for the building and licensing problem, Google didn’t build the phone. It’s more of a “Google phone” than previous Google-branded devices, but not much more, although it does give a leg-up to HTC in its battle with its competitors.
The really interesting thing here, for me at least, is not Google’s relationship with the other Android manufacturers or T-Mobile, but with Apple and AT&T. It would have been simple for HTC to add the AT&T band to the device, and from HTC’s perspective, it’s hard to see how it wouldn’t make sense to do so. Hence it looks as if the omission was deliberate, which might be due to pressure from T-Mobile, but it looks to me as if it’s more likely to be from Google in order to give it leverage with AT&T in the Apple battle. AT&T can’t currently benefit from sales of the Nexus, and if they want it, it’s going to have to be on Google’s terms.
The other thing to bear in mind is that not everybody wants a super-phone. It’s easy to forget, especially given the apparent ubiquity of iPhlops now, that there is still a large number of people out there who want a simpler, cheaper device. Android is free (at least in terms of licensing), so there’s no reason why manufacturers can’t also put a cut-down version of it on their low-end devices, similar to the way Nokia uses Symbian.
Just a note here. Michael Gartenberg is a Microsoft “Enthusiast Evangelist”. Not that it invalidates what he’s saying, but it’s worth noting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gartenberg
there was already a “little” manufacturer which got the google apps licensing denied.
it was a smartphone with snapdragon or eventually tegra.
The way i look at it.. if google had an influence on the design of this device.. they basically put out a phone that has great specs, they offer the same OS to other manufacturers and carriers for free.. so in order to compete, they have to make something as good or better.. All it’s doing is making the other carriers come out with great phones too. Win/Win
@TK props for making use of “rediculousity” =)
mac, my G1 has an htc stamp on the side of it
google just sells the phone
@Caswan, I’m aware that AT&T is going to be releasing Android phones this year, hopefully 5 before July, but none of them seem on the level of the Droid/Milestone or the Nexus One. Is it just wishful thinking for me to desire not only an Android phone but a GOOD Android phone? Perhaps.
I guess we at AT&T who have steadfastly rejected buying an iPhone or even using one given to us for free will have to wait a little while longer for some awesomeness to pierce the clouds and for “super” phones to come our way.
PS: Dear Google, it’s not a superphone if it doesn’t work on “my” network. Yes it may work on AT&T EDGE, but EDGE? Seriously? Let alone all of the Verizon users out there wanting this phone. If it doesn’t work on “my” network (meaning Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint), then it’s just a brick to me. Let’s look toward the future, ok?
Lovingly,
– TK
@Rachel my Hero has Google on the back
this writer doesn’t get it. All his other articles are like this. Very naive.
This is a Google INC Phone…The trademark Nexus One is registered to Google. Google legally controls this device not HTC. Sorry, yOU ARE wrong.
I don’t really think that Google is trying to sell their own device, but rather create a central hub for buying stock Android phones. I imagine that HTC may be the first company it is using to sell Android phones. I am thinking the Nexus One might be the start of a new support model. I imagine hardware companies who sell phones through Google will have to meet certain criteria to keep phones reasonably compatible.
It appears that Google is taking control away from the cell phone providers (which I think is something they might like). The Nexus One I have is not a T-Mobile phone, so T-Mobile has no responsibility in giving me updates. I imagine Android and phone updates will come directly from Google (perhaps through the Android marketplace) not your cell phone provider. I am hoping that means quicker Android updates rather than waiting for the cell phone manufacturer to roll them out.
Who wrote this article? I hope you are just tryng to stimulate activity here in the comment section because if you truly believe this stuff then you should not be writing for Phandroid! Any legitimate Google fan knows that Google is not attempting to sell phones for a profit. You of all people should know that Google is trying to stimulate the market and show manufacturers what is truly possible with their free software Android. The ultimate goal being to get smart phones in the hands of more and more people of all classes at cheaper and cheaper prices thus expanding the reach of their advertising! They dont care if their phone sells or not as long as Android takes off and changes the structure of the whole market making the price for all brands of smart phones and plans fall. Again, you should know that with the way Google has designed all of their free applications one does not need Android to be targeted by their advertising!
AHHHHHHH….I GET IT NOW! Every story has to have a procrastinator and in the Android story our procrastinator is Anthony Perez the author of this article!
The G1 has “HTC” on the left side of the slider portion of the phone. When I use a high power battery from amazon I can surf a solid 8-10 hours non-stop. Plus the real keyboard, with shifted keys, is the BEST out there. If the Nexus One was the guts in a new G1 I’d be all over it, but it is not as much a jump in technology as I would have hoped.
I had a IPhone and bought droid it is a ver y nice phone but for google to give htc better hard in their design is bull. they helped on both phones.App store really sucks how many fart apps do you need. No really good stuff yet.My next phone will not be Google. I feel like they are as bad as Microsoft.
The only problem here arises if Google doesn’t release the latest firmware in a timely manner. For instance, if the Nexus came out and no other manufacturers had the latest firmware to get on their phones. However, considering the (HTC) Nexus One is out with 2.1 and other HTC models are still running 1.6? I’d surmise this is a manufacturer or carrier choice. I’m sure there are Motos, and Sammys, and HTCs running beta 2.1 presently. We’ll all have it soon enough. Google seems to prefer fair business practice.
I bet it was just as much HTC’s decision to not advertise this a an HTC phone. HTC has their branding around the sense theme for their phones and probably did not want a phone without HTC sense to be heavily advertised as an HTC phone. This is a win win for us as we will be able to decide to have a quality built HTC phone with or with out its HTC sense on it. I like the HTC sense but it holds up the OS updates as HTC has to make sure sense is compatible with the latest OS.
Just my 2 cents worth anyways
This phone is an HTC phone, period. Google may have worked with them, but Google did NOT make the phone. It’s as much a “Google” phone as the G1 and myTouch. The only difference here, I mean the ONLY difference, is that Google is selling it directly, instead HTC channeling it through a particular carrier’s retail store. They’re also selling an unlocked version, which doesn’t mean much in this country due to carrier technology differences, but it’s still a start. Google just probably got tired of everybody putting Android on crappy hardware, so they worked with HTC to show everybody how you should actually use current technology in new phones so they perform well. Would somebody please kill the 528MHz Qualcomm once and for all, please? Thanks.
Google has almost the cash necessary to buy the total market cap of Sprint, at least enough to buy out Deutsche Telekom (parent company of T-Mobile), and probably has enough they could sell in short term investments to buy Motorola outright. They just want to ensure that the buzz lasts past the first version product and keep guiding it along like a product manager since these companies have been so pathetic in engineering competing products to the iPhone over the last few years.
The phone is made by HTC so it seems they didn’t have a problem with it? Right?
And by Google having one of those handsets as ‘theirs’ that they sell directly only stimulates competition… now Sony and Moto have to step up and show that they can hang w/ the N1 or offer something that the N1 doesn’t.
The other suggestion here is that Google will keep all the top notch Android stuff for themselves and keeping the other competitors in the dark… but if they did that, then the those manufacturers WOULD walk away, there would be less Android handsets which would equal less install bases which would equal the the death of Android.
Its a pretty flawed suggestion.
(I haven’t read the previous comments; sorry if this is only a repeat of something else.)
It seems to me to be more of an issue of trust than anything else. Yes, Rubin and the others can keep playing their “word games”, but that’s what it is. Google is selling an Android phone. “Technically” they didn’t “make” it, so technically, they didn’t lie. But even saying that is just playing a game of semantics. If I were their partners in the OHA, I surely would see that Google has backtracked on what they implied. If Google is capable of playing these kinds of word games, how can they be trusted to not play even worse games in the future? The bottom line for me is, they can’t.
That should not come as any surprise in the typical business world (that you can’t really ever trust another company), but for Google, who has tried to portray themselves as a “do no evil” company, this calls into question their credibility. Reminds me of the interview the Symbian guy gave a few months back where he questioned Google’s “do no evil” statement. Seems to me this shows that he had a point.
Oh, and for the record, if the Nexus One was being sold in my country, with Chinese handwriting recognition, I’d have already bought one. This is exactly the phone I have been waiting for for the last two years. So no hate for Google or Android should be inferred from anything I said above. I just think they are playing a dangerous game when it comes to their relationship with their partners in the OHA.
But I’m still using my trusty Palm TX and Nokia dumbphone combination, waiting for the day when someone finally offers me an Android phone just like this one. And I’m hoping it’s HTC, because I know they’ll do the Chinese stuff well. (BTW, I’m only assuming this phone doesn’t support Chinese handwriting input because I didn’t see anything about that in the specs sheet at Google; I’d love to hear from someone who owns the phone that it does.)
Sometimes I wonder how these “analysts” keep their jobs. The real reason for the N1 became quite apparent to me shortly after its launch. One way or another I ended up on Google’s mobile app site and it was all made clear to me. Look around at all the advertisements you see for gadgets or apps that work on or with the IPhone. Now think about how you would market that same gadget for Android. It becomes difficult. People know the IPhone as a single device. People don’t really know Android vs a G1, Droid, Eris, whatever. You can’t put all those phones up on a sign and it keeps growing. When I looked at Google’s mobile app site I saw that they had already put the N1 up as the poster phone for Android.
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Thats what the N1 can be. Its the poster for Android. It gives Google that single device to use as the face of Android. They can’t use any other device without showing favoritism. Of course only one OEM can make it and HTC got the nod. But after that its the “Google” phone and its available across multiple carriers. All other Android devices now become Android or sadly (I say sadly because it shows how simple people are) “N1 compatible”. Now its easier for someone seeking to build things for Android to have a single target object to market around. I still don’t think this will be quite as effective as the IPhone but I do think its needed.
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As far as being in competition with partners…..ok…they give the OS away….what competition???? Its not the same way that MS sells their OS for others to build apps on top of and then goes back and competes with those apps. However they do it anyway and we see how successful MS is. So I don’t see how this is such a big issue with Google anyway.
Thats just stupid. All the phones running android say google on them just whether they were built by HTC LG Motorola etc… like all the phones running windows mobile have the windows logo on them. And as much as it isn’t as prevalent of a company right now, Palm succeeded quite well both with its manufacturing of the treo and other devices as well as offering the palm os for use by other manufacturers. This article is pointless and uninformed.
Google’s definitely still helping their partners greatly.
Look at the nexusone. Existing customers for a nexus one will be 300-something as to a NEW contract which is 180 for a nexusone
Pretty irrelevant if its a Google phone or not since the carriers could care less who makes the phones. They make their money from the service that makes the phone work not by selling the phones themselves. Don’t they subsidize most phones anywhere and therefore lose money on the handsets? I’m sure they would be very sad to see that system end.
What’s going to hurt Google is not that they are selling their own handset and competing with the other manufactures that build Android phones. It’s that the phone that they are selling has known issues with both 3G and phone signal an absolutely ZERO customer service or Support. It’s all about collecting the $530 and never dealing with the problems.
Yeah, I read an article on gizmodo about nexus one having very poor 3G connectivity when compared to the G1. http://gizmodo.com/5443123/does-the-nexus-one-have-3g-problems They also have an article about an enterprise version of the nexus one with a slide out keyboard and bigger battery. http://gizmodo.com/5444173/nexus-one-enterprise-version-could-have-a-physical-keyboard-bigger-battery
I see. Here are some problem with nexousone. I hope google will pay some attention about it.
LOL, this is crazy. Everyone was talking about how this was such a lamborgini of cell phones, but noone thought about the fact that they had to drive it on a shitty street with potholes and divits otherwise known as T-Mobile.
Has anyone else heard that might T-mobile might be selling the N1 officially in stores later this year? I heard around March.
Google gave away the OS for free. It nebe=ver held a gun to Sanjay Jha’s stupid head and forced him to use android OS exclusively. Google never forced Sanjay Jha to lay off everyone who wasn’t working on android.
Motorola can go out of business thanks to management nepotism, stupidity & arrogance and I won’t shed a single tear.
too bad the Nexus One sucks, and can’t even get a 3G connection….sigh…ill stick with my DROID for now
How does anyone know that tmobile is not getting a cut of this? that subsidized price isnt coming from google.
Nexus one is not a “SuperPhone” as google made it out to be. And now they are gonna look stupid putting their weight on it. IMO google should have stayed out of Android hardware even if its made by HTC. They still have lots of work to do on software side of Android
I belthink Google can do both. Why not? I am not sure if they will but I think it will happen. Can’t hurt anything I don’t think. I hope it does happen…because if it does I think GOogle will rule over all. ..when it comes to the best cellphones…and then maybe even netbooks.
Google can do so much better.
Google HAS the funds to be their own carrier and handset maker.
They could blow the whole cell phone carrier game out of the water but since they took an open source route they give the OS to the manufacturers and they create it.
Google’s vision is never going to be achieved by having other people creating the phone but I see what they were trying to do with nexus one they were trying to create a standard but they have to do better than those specs.
Right now I feel my samsung behold 2 running android 1.5 is a better phone than nexus and it has touchwiz on it. says much don’t it?
People are still coming out with phones running 1.5 there is something wrong with that picture. what happened to updating? we behold 2 owners need a update I mean come on the code can not be difficult.
actually i think that the point is for other android phone makers to compete and google is pushing for the advancement of their own platform by competing against themselves!
It is a conflict of interest, and one that could bite them if other manufacturers seriously believe Google is in competition with them. Why would those mfg’s support a platform that they are guaranteed to lose on?
We don’t see Intel making PCs, do we? If we did, Dell & HP would be buying their processors from someone else.
You might as well FORGET about Google’s “evil plan”, the Nexus One G3 performance is so BAD that this phone is going to flop. Complaints are pouring out all over.
Had a friend over yesterday with their G1 on Tmobile and they had constant 3G while my N1 had Edge 90% of the time. This was everywhere in the house. Over the last 2 days I find I get 3G about 10% of the time. I’m in clear sight of a T-mobile tower and am supposedly smack dab in the 3G coverage.
This is complete BS. Clearly the radio design is substandard, or they have a software problem (or have done this on purpose in the SW to reduce network loading?). I love everything else about the phone, but waiting 30 seconds for a simple web page to load is a deal killer. This phone will be going back within the 30 day (by law in CA) return unless they fix this COMPLETE DISASTER.
Read the massive outpouring of G3 problems on the Google support thread:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=0bd8ccd4799040c2&hl=en&fid=0bd8ccd4799040c200047cd430d03e54
I think that if Google was trying to steal the thunder so to speak .That they(GOOGLE) would have made the phone completely by themselves.I think what they are trying to do is introduce another way to purchase Android phones to spread the Android goodness around a little .They are proud of what it has accomplished in such a short period of time, as are the early adopters and supporters like myself.It is no different buying a Nexus1, than it is to buy a DEV phone.So, I’m not really sure what all the hoopla is about.In the same token this could be a great move for Android as a whole. The times are a changing my friends, this year will be no doubt be the year of the “Pastry Toting Robot!” so, 3 cheers for Android,Google,and all the Developers and to all who have been down for the cause since day one.
[HTC] Nexus One is not any more google phone than [HTC] G1 was.
Note what I wrote in square brackets. It is HTC phone. HTC G1 had “with Google” written on the back of it.
With google is on the back of my behold 2
Articals like this one are written just to stack up the comments. CES is showing OEM’s support for Android with companies like LG saying half of it smartphone line up will have Android & all the partners in the OHA knew of The Nexus One before any of us did & Gooogle was still able to bring on 13 new partners so I wish that would make these little blogs stop saying this because they are the only ones perpetuating this kind of non-sense because the device makers are gonna stick with Android no matter how many phones Google sells & all Google is doing is selling phones. They did not open a sweat shop in Tawain to produce phones. they are simply trying to change the way phones are sold in the US
I don’t get this “Evil Plan” crap everyone is crying about. It would be ideal for the end users if they can go online and pick a phone they want, and then pick any carrier they want, WHO WOULD BE FORCED TO DIRECTLY COMPETE FOR YOUR BUSINESS. How does this hurt the end user??? I don’t see why this should bother phone manufacturers either. They are already in direct competition as the phone, not the service, drives smartphone sales these days. I’m sure the carriers don’t like it, because they are enjoying fleecing us with locked down phones and overpriced services. Take a minute to compare plan pricing here and other parts of the developed world, and you’ll see the difference.
First of all, it’s not THE “Google Phone”. Like all other Android phones, it’s primarily the manufacturer’s phone (in this case its HTC). In order for it to be THE “Google Phone” it has to be designed, manufactured, and sold solely by Google. After all, it’s not a Qualcomm phone just because they made the processor, power manager, and RFC or a Broadcom phone just because they made the Bluetooth/WLAN.
Secondly, even though the Nexus One is the first phone that Google has ever sold on their own website, its just that, the “first”. If you read the website more you’ll relies that they’re wanting to change how cell phones are sold. This tells me that they will do this with future phones too. So in the scheme of things it doesn’t actually make the Nexus special, just the first to be sold on Google’s website.
Third, the manufactures don’t care where you buy there phone. When is the last time you went into a HTC or Motorola store to buy a phone? You don’t. You buy phone from carries. You then either buy the phone full price which pays the manufacture plus profit for the carries. Or you pay part of the cost but with a two year contract. In this case the carries eats the cost of the phone because they know they’ll still make a profit in the end. But either way the manufacture gets paid right away. Sure, this means that HTC’s Android phones will be pushed over their non-Android phones. But that still means their phones are being pushed.
Lastly, you have to remember that it’s Google! Other may have failed trying similar things but common… it’s Google. They can pull off anything. As long as they don’t manufacture the physical device and take money away from existing manufactures, everybody wins.
What people fail to understand is that google is first and foremost an ad agency, that’s what they do and every purchase and acquisition they make goes to further that primary objective. They want to make sure that their ads can reach you more easily and faster than it ever has. That’s why android exists in its current interation. If they can get android phones into everyone’s hands regardless of whatever form it comes in -stock, blur, sense ete – they would have a platform to reach more consumers with ads imbedded within apps. That’s why they purchased admob and the recent story circulating about ads on street view is further proof. Google is a super smart company, and they are constantly reinventing the way pay by click ads reach us through various media. I won’t be surprised if sometime in the next future, they take on the tv industry by purchasing hulu or a simiar site, revamp it and start imbedding ads within it. Yeah I know they own youtube right now, but a dedicated internet television site is what I am envisioning.
Interesting… I hear many are having problems with nexousone. Google should take notice.