Google unveiled its new Nexus One smartphone on Tuesday in a direct challenge to heavyweight Apple’s iPhone handsets.
The Internet giant billed the touch-screen device, the culmination of collaboration with Taiwanese electronics titan HTC (宏達電), a “superphone” that marked the next step in the evolution of its Android software.
“I think you will see it pushes the limits of what’s possible on a smart phone,” HTC chief executive Peter Chou (周永明) said as the smartphone debuted at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. “It is very thin and feels good in your hand.”
Nexus One handsets are no thicker than pencils and no heavier than Swiss Army knife key chains, Google engineer Erick Tseng (曾毅立) said while demonstrating one of the smartphones.
“It is a great marriage of form and function,” Tseng said.
Nexus One smartphones are built on the same Android 2.1 software that runs Droid smartphones that recently hit the market with innovations like 3D graphics, Tseng said. The handsets also feature new speech command capabilities that allow users to dictate e-mails, text messages or Internet search queries.
Google launched its own online store, where the Nexus One will be sold.
“This is really a Google phone,” Interpret analyst Michael Gartenberg said. “A lot of the Android phones that came to market are kind of lackluster. One of the ways to avoid mediocrity is to kick things up a couple of notches yourself.”
Nexus One smartphones will be sold at the Google-hosted Web store for US$529 “unlocked,” without ties to a telecom carrier. But the handsets will be offered starting at US$179 if paired with T-Mobile service contracts in the US.
Google has made “strategic partnerships” with telecom firm Verizon in US and Vodafone in Europe. Nexus One devices linked to service from Verizon in the US and Vodafone in Europe should be available by mid-year, Google said.
Google said it would ship Nexus One devices to buyers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK and the US.
The smartphones are designed to work with a variety of telecom carrier networks.
“You can take out your SIM card from any provider and put it in the phone,” Google vice president of product management Mario Queiroz said.
The Internet search and advertising giant has a foothold in the market with its Android mobile operating system, featured in more than 20 phones since starting with T-Mobile’s G1 in October 2008.
“Google made it very clear that all Android devices are created equal, but some devices are created more equally than others,” Gartenberg said.
“They’ve raised the bar for their partners and they’ve tried to raise the bar for the ecosystem. They’ve clearly shown how they want to be a player,” he said.
Analysts have expressed concern that Google’s move could irk partners backing handsets based on the Internet firm’s open-source Android software.
“I don’t see it as a threat,” said Sanjay Jha, chief of mobile devices at handset titan Motorola, which recently brought to market a Droid smartphone based on Android software.
Also See: HTC revenue drops 31% in Q4
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