Why Google has blown it with the Nexus One

After frenzied leaks and gushing speculation, we now know what the Google Nexus One smartphone really is: a refinement of the existing Google Android mobile devices. The frenzied fawning from the tech press was misplaced -- the Nexus One is not a significant advancement in its own right.

Sure, it has some cool features such as speech recognition (for commanding apps and for dictation) and noise-canceling microphones. (However, I wonder about the network traffic that the dictation will generate, given that Google's servers do the processing, not the smartphone.) The 3-D media organizer is also cool, and the new customizable home screen is a direct and welcome rip-off of the iPhone UI.

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But ultimately, so what? We can expect that kind of incremental enhancements from all the leading smartphone makers. (And why doesn't the Nexus One support multitouch?!)

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Baby steps toward smartphone freedom
The potential game-changing attribute of the Nexus One is that Google is selling the device direct, without requiring a carrier contract. The laudable idea is that you should be able to buy the smartphone -- and mobile OS -- of your choice and use it on the carrier of your choice.

It appears that Google is trying via baby steps to move the industry past the exclusive carrier/phone tie-ins that have restricted the Apple iPhone to AT&T, the HTC Droid Eris to Verizon Wireless, and the Palm Pre to Sprint, and instead provide an option where the phone is not locked to a specific carrier.

But the Nexus One doesn't really move that goal forward. The truth is even if you buy an "unlocked" Nexus One from Google and pay full price ($529), you can't use it with any carrier. It works just with T-Mobile. Later this year Google will have separate versions for Verizon Wireless and -- for the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Hong Kong -- Vodafone. Other carriers would have to agree to let you use a Nexus One on their networks. It's not clear that they will, especially in North America.

 

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