Today marked 2010’s first major tech release: the Google Nexus One. Google’s calling it a superphone, that special sub-category of smartphones that can do things like posting video to YouTube and run voice recognition software. I dunno, sounds like every other smartphone to me, though this one does look a good bit faster.
If you were hoping for a revelation, keep on hoping. While the Nexus One is definitely the best Android phone I’ve seen, it falls in line with the evolution of smartphones to this point. Yes, it is faster. That Snapdragon processor will be the envy of every iPhone owner, including myself. Yes, it is small. I was actually surprised to see that HTC was able to keep it thinner than a No. 2 pencil considering the processor. It will be interesting to see how hot it gets. And yes, above all, it is pretty. Android 2.1 looks really spectacular on that AMOLED screen. It’s got a big camera with an LED flash, another thing that will make the iPhone fans whimper.
Other than that, the world remains the same. Android app support still hasn’t caught up with the iPhone, and you can only get a 3G data connection on T-Mobile, the same one-network limitation the iPhone has. The one big difference is that it is possible to get the phone off contract, though in the US I doubt we’ll see many people going that route.
Head over to Google’s official webpage for all the spec info you need and a nice tour of the phone’s features.
