Jon Bradford: It is all over the blogosphere – the fabled Google phone really does exist. The first picture of the Nexus One has already appeared on Twitter and it is only a matter of time before we start getting full reviews by Google employees and the internet’s glitterati.
So why have Google got themselves into the hardware game after many different quotes from Eric Schmidt to the contrary? By creating the Nexus One, I believe that Google have created their own Android “Gold Standard” against which all other Android phones will be measured. This is in part to challenge hardware manufacturers and more importantly to control network operators.
Having had the pleasure of using both a G1 (home) and an iPhone (work) simultaneously I have discovered that both have their pros and cons but neither is quite the perfect phone and I think the market is still wide open. Both have great features but neither has all, so in my mind it is all about who can recognise their deficiencies and adapt quickly.
After a month with the iPhone, I would suggest the following:
- Hardware – the iPhone’s build quality is fantastic and the touch screen is more responsive – no contest the iPhone wins hands down.
- Battery – lets just say that I have seen a few iPhone users look very jealously at me at 4 o’clock in the afternoon when I kick out the old G1 battery and replace it with a new one.
- “Flashy light” – this has me completely stumped- why doesn’t the iPhone include one of those Blackberry lights which indicate when you have an email (or tweet or SMS)? No wonder the iPhone battery is always flat – users spend all their life switching it on to check if they have new email.
- Multi-tasking – this is a real winner for Android – my email, twitter and multiple other apps run quietly in the background with no profound impact on battery life. Only since I became a full time iPhone user have I discovered why iPhone users are constantly fiddling with their phones – its not because they’re addictive, its because they are constantly checking their email and then twitter etc. Another reason for their batteries being constantly flat.
- User interface – this is down to personal taste. There are good things about both. I prefer the bigger screen of the iPhone but I prefer the way Android organises its apps.
- Multi-touch – well Android has none, so I guess the iPhone wins this one.
- Apps – as with UI this is personal choice. Android was rubbish but is improving quickly. Do I need 100,000 apps? Probably not, I use around 10-15 apps of which 5 regularly.
- Flip out keyboard – having used the iPhone for a month I am not completely convinced a flip out keyboard is necessary. The Android on screen keyboard is rubbish. Why? The screen is too small and the less responsive that the iPhone.
So I guess if the Nexus One improved build quality, had a bigger and more responsive screen, a swappable battery, “flashy light”, multi-tasking, multi-touch and on screen keyboard we might have a new gold standard in smartphones. I guess Google just got really frustrated that manufacturers failed to compete with Apple.
The second point – which I think is more important – is controlling network operators. There is a growing consensus that Android is pretty easy to code for, the background processing is a real winner and their self-regulated marketplace is substantially better than the Apple Apps Store. But fragmentation of the Android code comes up again and again. Is there a way to retain control of the code but allow for some divergence? I guess the Nexus One is Google’s attempt at this.
By creating the Google phone (aka the Nexus One), the Android team have ultimately a code base on which developers can create “Google certified” applications. Network operators can diverge from the code base but at their own risk – do they want the embarrassment of building an Android phone that won’t run particular apps?
This is likely to piss off the hardware manufacturers and network operators in the short term, but in the longer term it will benefit both. It is essential that the Android is considered competitive rather than “second best” and developers must have confidence that their apps can and will work across multiple devices.
I guess Santa won’t be coming early this year … but may be after Xmas 
Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe by Email
Some interesting points, but it’s also kind of obvious that Google had to make a device like this or be faced with having Android forever defined by the sales policies of mobile phone networks.
At the other end of the scale, I’m reminded of nokia’s notebooklet laptop, which slots neatly into the reward scheme for people who wish to buy a 3G dongle and a laptop at the same vendor. Hopefully the nexus will be better recieved.