Google is working on an own brand – android based smartphone, it plans to sell directly to consumers as soon as next year, one that might bear the name Nexus-one.
The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site late Saturday that Google would sell the phone directly to consumers rather than through carriers, which sell the bulk of mobile phones in the United States.
Nexus One Cellphone
The phone is called the Nexus One and is being manufactured for Google by HTC Corporation. It runs Android, the operating system for mobile phones that Google developed.
Mario Queiroz, a Google vice president of product management, said the company had developed a “mobile lab” device that “combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android.” According to Queiroz, Google has distributed the device to Google employees worldwide so that they could test the new technology and help improve it.
The Journal reports that Google will sell the Nexus One online and that users will have to purchase their cell service separately. That would indicate the device is an unlocked GSM handset, but it isn’t clear what carrier networks with which it will work. In the US, AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM.
The Nexus One may be an attempt by Google to borrow from the Apple playbook. Although the hardware is from HTC, rumors suggest that Google has dictated every last detail of the hardware specifications and is customizing the Android experience to be uniquely Google.
Although Google has not officially confirmed that it will sell the smartphone, the Wall Street Journal wrote that it could go on sale as early as next year.