Google Launches Nexus One Superphone

5 Jan 2010 - Google is getting into the cell phone business with the Nexus one, the first cell phone to be sold under the Google brand. The Nexus One is manufactured by HTC, and costs $180 with an $80 a month, 2-year contract from T-Mobile. Google describes the Nexus One, which runs their own Android operating system, as a Superphone, claiming that it is superior to the existing smartphones.

The phone is built around a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and includes 512MB of RAM and 512MB of flash memory. Additional memory for music and video is in the form of a microSD card, with a 4GB card included with the phone. Cards up to 32GB are supported. This list of specifications is superior to the iPhone, which uses a slower processor and has less memory (256MB of RAM). The Nexus One also has a bigger, higher resolution screen than the iPhone; the AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic LED) screen is 3.7 inches across and has a resolution  of 400 by 800 pixels, while the iPhone has a 3.5-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 480 by 320.

A 5 Megapixel camera is also included, which includes auto focus and an LED illuminator. The camera can also capture video at up 720 by 480 pixel resolution at 20 frames a second or higher. Quite what they mean by higher was not clarified by Google.

The Nexus one is also somewhat smaller than the iPhone, at just 0.45 inches thick. It also offers  Bluetooth sand 802.11 g/n wireless. It is powered by a removable 1400 mAh battery, with a claimed talk time of 10 hours on 2G networks and 7 hours on 3G. Google also claims that this battery can play back video for up to 7 hours and audio for up to 20. The Nexus One runs version 2.1 of Google's own Android operating system, which is an update from the version on other phones (such as the Droid from Verizon). This new version offers a number

Although the Nexus One is being sold directly by Google and is unlocked to work on any GSM phone network, the buyer needs to sign up for a 2-year T-Mobile contract to get the phone for $180. Google is also offering a contract-free version of the phone, but this costs $350

The Nexus one supports the 3G frequencies used by T-Mobile in the US (), but it does not support the frequencies used by AT&T. So, anyone connecting this phone to the AT&T network would get an EDGE connection, but no 3G.