The FINANCIAL — Google will finally reveal its first mobile phone tomorrow after months of frenzied speculation about its arrival, it emerged today, as Mail Online reports. The Nexus One handset, which uses software designed by the internet giant and has been developed to take on the dominant iPhone.
The hotly-anticipated arrival of the Nexus One marks the start of Google’s bid to challenge the dominance of Apple’s iPhone in the growing smartphone market, according to Sky News. The internet search giant has invited journalists to its Californian headquarters tomorrow for a press briefing on its Android mobile phone operating system, launched to attract users to its services.
It is widely expected that Google will take the opportunity to unveil the Nexus One phone, thought to be named in a nod to the 'Nexus' androids in the sci-fi film Blade Runner, the same source reports. Google’s Android operating system is already used by phones from companies such as Motorola and Samsung, but the Nexus One will represent the first time the company has had full control over a device.
New reports today suggest the Nexus One, named after a type of ‘replicant’ cyborg in Ridley Scott’s science-fiction film Blade Runner, will be sold online for around £300, according to Mail Online. It is understood that the handset, said to have a larger screen than Apple’s iPhone and with a more powerful five-megapixel camera, will be sold in the U.S. before arriving in Europe.
The smartphone, which uses Google’s Android mobile phone operating system, reportedly has a 3.7in-long screen and run on an exchangeable 3.7V battery, the same source reports. It comed with a 4GB memory, but also offers users the option of adding a 32GB memory card, according to technology website endgadget.com. Buyers will be able to access the web, play video games and use Google’s free GPS maps. Its unlocked version will allow consumers to use any wireless internet provider of their choice.
As Internet usage has shifted to mobile phones, Google has repeatedly tried to break wireless carriers' tight grip on the services and devices they allow on their networks. At the same time, Google has purchased and developed technologies that can replace existing communications services. One example is Google Voice, a call-routing service, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some analysts speculate that Google could eventually deliver very cheap or subsidized service to consumers on its own, in exchange for advertising. The company recently purchased a start-up called Gizmo5, whose service allows users to make Internet calls from mobile phones.
Rather than selling the Nexus One phone through a wireless carrier — as the bulk of phones are sold in the U.S. today — Google plans to sell the Nexus One itself online, people familiar with the matter said, although the company may seek wireless partnerships in the future, the same source reports.
According to AP, Calif.-based Google launched its first Android phone in September 2008, the G1 sold by T-Mobile USA. Verizon Wireless last month released the Droid, the first smart phone to run Android 2.0, and expects to launch another Android phone this year.
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