There’s been a ridiculous amount of internet chatter about the Google Phone (Nexus One) since Friday night. Instead of giving you a bunch of hype and such I thought I would wait a couple days until the rumors weren’t all over the place. Well now that things are starting to calm down and become clear, here’s a list of what we know and what we don’t. Read on to get the goods.
We know…
- The phone was given to Google employees at an all-hands meeting on Friday, December 10th. The story broke when a number of Googlers tweeted about the phone.
- The phone is indeed the HTC Passion/Bravo device many suspected. The back also has the android guy holding a flag with a QR Code. It is Snapdragon-based (super fast) with a 3.7-inch AMOLED display and 5 megapixel camera
- The OS features new 3D elements to the app tray, as well as an extended amount of homescreens, though it looks like the lock screen / mute is the same as in Android 2.0.1. Additionally, there’s now a new grid icon at the bottom of the homescreen, which when pressed brings up a webOS card-style preview of all homescreen pages — which raises some interesting possibilities.
- The phone also appears to come loaded up with Google Navigation (a bit of a no-brainer) and the brand-spanking-new Google Goggles.
- The phone itself appears to be the HTC Dragon / Passion (with at least the specs of the Bravo, which looks to be a variant of the other models). All are Snapdragon-based phones with a 3.7-inch AMOLED displays, 5 megapixel cameras, and no physical keyboards.
- The background is animated. Sounds like a cool feature to me as long as it doesn’t slow down the phone.
- There are rumors that if sold, the device will be available unlocked and able to function on both AT&T and T-Mobile 3G bands. Since it’s unlocked and uses a sim card those of us on Sprint and Verizon are out of luck. As of right now, the only way to get this phone is to work for Google.
Now for some rumors…
- This phone will be the end of the world
- Currently the masses are saying that Google will be selling the phone directly to consumers. If that’s the case, it could cause a real splintering in the Open Hadset Alliance. (hence the end of the world)
- If you hit “I’m Feeling Lucky” on google.com, you will see a countdown. Is it a countdown to the official announcement of the Google phone, perhaps?
- Reuters reported Monday that Google plans to sell two different versions of its phone: one to be subsidized through T-Mobile by contract and one unlocked version sold through Google’s website. The phone will reportedly be available as early as Jan. 5.
So thats it for now but I’m sure we’ll hear a lot over the next couple weeks.
[via Engadget]
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