Google unleashes its Nexus One
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A nexus is a link or means of connecting things; it can also mean the core or centre of something. So the first significant mobile event of the new decade: the launch of Google’s initial Android phone – the eagerly awaited Nexus One – pieces together almost all that is great and good in the mobile device world. This is undoubtedly a superb piece of engineering. The bar gets raised yet again and we’re hardly out of the starting blocks for the year!
Ergonomically, the Google Phone as it is being called, just slips naturally into the hand with its all-round soft curves rather than the hard edges of, say the Motorola Milestone. At 130g the Nexus One is lighter than an iPhone (136g) and Milestone (170g) as well as being narrower and thinner (at 11.5mm) than these two most striking competitors.
All the boxes of a futuristic smartphone are ticked – albeit with a few compromises and zigs where some people would prefer to zag. Not least is the fantastic 3.7 inch widescreen, AMOLED screen, delivering 720×480 pixels resolution. Arguably crisper and clearer than any other display on the market, it delivers touchscreen responsiveness definitely in the ballpark of the iPhone and, moreover, it is fast.
The combination of Android 2.1 sitting above a Snapdragon CPU clocked at 1GHz with 512Mb RAM and ROM really does enable you to zap through opening up applications and then moving between them, even on EDGE, where 3G is unavailable.
Its multimedia credentials, are quietly competent rather than superb – such as the 5 megapixel, autofocus camera with LED flash and its 32GB memory card capacity. Among the bells and whistles is an interesting Android application called Google Goggles: it tries to recognize what is in photos then generates search results about them. Goggles can currently recognize landmarks, books, contact information, artwork, places, wine and logos at the moment and Google is apparently aiming to add other types of objects, such as plants!
A lively little feature that has certainly captured the blogosphere’s attention is what are called “live wallpapers”, already featured on Motorola’s Droid. Nexus One has a choice of 10 such animated images that can evolve throughout the day, for example. Probably more significantly, it offers excellent noise cancelling, a proximity sensor (so you don’t accidentally press buttons when it is up to your ear) and a highly effective speakerphone.
Where the Nexus One really impresses, though, is in what could be called its charisma – if it could walk into a crowded room, heads would most definitely turn. Its Teflon-coated back and sides are simultaneously rubbery and tough yet soft and almost sensuous – a strangely compelling tactile experience.
The Nexus One has scrambled up to the top of the greasy pole for now. We await what Samsung’s new Bada operating system will deliver in the Spring or early Summer. So 2010 looks set to be, if not exactly a space odyssey, then a fascinating journey though all that is faster, snappier and wow-ier in the mobile device world.
