HTC Android Nexus One

The Nexus One is a smartphone from Google that uses the Android open source mobile operating system. The device is manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corporation, and became available on January 5, 2010. Features of the phone include the ability to transcribe voice to text, noise canceling dual microphones, and voice directions while driving.

The phone comes unlocked and is not restricted to any particular mobile network provider. Google currently offers it for use on the T-Mobile network in the United States; a version for use on the Verizon (US) and Vodafone (European) networks is expected in the second calendar quarter of 2010.

Availability
The Nexus One was released on January 5, 2010. The phone is sold via Google's website, at a price of $529 unlocked, or a subsidized $179 when purchased with a T-Mobile two year contract. Only one plan is available for subsidized phones - $79.99 per month rate, which includes 500 minutes with unlimited nights and weekends, unlimited texting/MMS, and web data. Unsubsidized phones have no such limitation. The $179 T-Mobile price is only for individuals who are not currently under contract with T-Mobile. If one currently has a T-Mobile contract without a data package, the price of the phone rises to $279.99. If the contract has both the voice and data package, the price of the phone again jumps to a higher price bracket, which is $379.99. By spring 2010, a Verizon version will be available in the US and a Vodafone model in Europe, with plans to expand the phone to other carriers and international markets in due course.

Google is making the phone available for delivery to the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong, although native carrier tie-ups have not been finalized for these countries, and the phone will be shipped from the US. Customers ordering from the UK are charged $20 international shipping and an optional $19.99 for an AC adaptor, with an additional 17.5% VAT and 6.5% import duty being added. Singapore applies 7% GST, while Hong Kong does not add any additional taxes. For consumers outside these countries, the Nexus One is not currently shipping internationally.

Hardware
The Nexus One features a 3.7 in (9.4 cm) active-matrix OLED display (480 x 800 px, WVGA) with a 100,000:1 contrast ratio and a response time of 1 ms. Despite being capable of multi-touch, this is not enabled by default in the US version, apparently due to a patent belonging to Apple Inc. It has an illuminated trackball which can emit different colors of light based on the type of notification being received. The phone has two microphones, one on the front and one on the back, to enable noise cancellation to reduce background noise during phone conversations. A standard 3.5mm headphone jack is also provided.

The phone features a 1 GHz Qualcomm 8250 processor, 512MB of RAM, a 4GB microSD card, 512MB of internal flash storage, a 5.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and digital zoom, GPS receiver, light and proximity sensors, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and 802.11b/g/n Wifi capabilities. It provides hardware decoding for H.263, H.264 and MPEG-4 video, and is capable of playing MP3, AAC+, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, and MIDI audio, and displaying the JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP image formats. It has a standard micro USB port rather than the proprietary HTC connector, and the microSD card slot allows expansion up to 32 gigabytes of card storage. Applications can only be installed to the 512 MB internal flash memory, of which 190 MB are available for that purpose. During unveiling, it was mentioned that Google may eventually lift this restriction after addressing security issues.

The phone weighs 130 g, with a height of 119 mm, a width of 59.8 mm, and a depth of 11.5 mm. It is powered by a removable 1400mAh battery, expected to last up to 290 hours on standby, 10 hours talk time, or 5 hours while browsing the internet.

The phone's radio circuitry covers most major GSM providers worldwide, with the notable exception of the 850MHz and 1900MHz UMTS 3G bands used by AT&T (of USA), Bell Mobility/Telus, Wind Mobile, and Rogers (of Canada), Movistar (Latin America), Telcel (Latin America), Telstra Australia's Next-G, Telecom New Zealand's XT Mobile Network and all GSM carriers in Latin America. Because the phone lacks these frequency bands, it is not compatible with the 3G networks of any of the above carriers, although 2G can be used. The GSM radio frequencies covered are 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 along with UMTS frequency bands 1 (2100MHz), 4 (1700MHz), and 8 (900MHz).

Software
The Nexus One runs the Google Android 2.1 operating system, codenamed 'Eclair'. The 2.1 firmware version of the Android operating system adds a few aesthetic changes such as "Live Wallpapers" which are animated in the background and react to different user inputs.The phone which is built on android 2.1 has access to more than 18,000 applications It also replaces the "Application Drawer" with a simple button which can be pressed to access the list of applications installed on the phone. This thumbnail list can be scrolled up and down and as it's scrolled, the applications roll up into a 3D cube instead of disappearing from the screen. Once the bottom of the application thumbnail list is hit, the screen bounces off similar to the iPhone functionality.

The integrated Media Gallery, developed by Cooliris, provides several new features allowing the user to browse, edit, and share photos and videos on the phone.

Pinch-zooming is still not available on the 2.1 firmware of Android. However, double-tapping will zoom in. Additionally, the "Gallery" application allows the use of finger swiping to switch pictures rather than requiring use of the "Right" or "Left" arrow keys.

The phone lacks native Exchange Server syncing.

Comparison with other phones
Nexus One has hardware and software multi-touch capability but is not enabled in the U.S. version by default, unlike an iPhone, due to Apple patent.

Total cost of ownership can be lower when compared to other smartphones. If use of the product is limited to free WiFi networks, the cost would be $529 for the lifetime of the phone. On the offered T-Mobile network, an unlimited usage plan is $2,579 for the first two years, whereas an unlimited use plan for two years on iPhone is $3,799. (Both prices are tax-excluded.)

Hacking and modifications
Users are able to root the device by unlocking its bootloader using the fastboot command "fastboot oem unlock". Unlocking the bootloader allows the user to install other firmware images that give the user root access, and even other bootloaders. Obtaining root privileges enables a user to override protected operating system features, install arbitrary software and enable internet tethering to share the phone's 3G network connection over Wifi among other things. Upon running the fastboot command, the user is presented with a Google-created screen stating that unlocking the bootloader will void the warranty.

History
A trademark application for the name "Nexus One" was filed by Google, Inc. on December 10, 2009. The Nexus One trademark was filed in International Trademark Class 9 for "Computer & Software Products & Electrical & Scientific Products" with description of "Mobile phones". The trademark was filed as an Intent to Use trademark, with no use in commerce date provided, indicating that the name may be used for a future product.

On December 12, 2009, Google confirmed in a blog post that they had begun internal testing of the device. Google stated that a "mobile lab device" had been given to its employees, at this time Google had not yet confirmed that a device would be sold to consumers. Wireless phone and data services for the device were not activated nor billed to Google, it was up to the employees to activate and pay for wireless service on their own.