Exclusive: first Google Phone / Nexus One photos, Android 2.1 on-board

Google Introduces Nexus One Mobile Phone, Designed With HTC

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., aiming to take on Apple Inc.’s iPhone, introduced a mobile phone called Nexus One.

The phone was designed in close partnership with Taiwan’s HTC Corp., Mario Queiroz, Google’s vice president of product management, said today at an event at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Exclusive: first Google Phone / Nexus One photos, Android 2.1 on-board



Well here you have it folks, honest-to-goodness pics of the Google Phone... AKA, the Nexus One. As you can see by the photos, the design of the device is largely similar to those we've seen, but the graphic on back is slightly different, and that piece of tape is covering a QR code (how very Google of them). Just like we've heard before, the updated 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. Apparently there's been a new software update for the device pushed tonight, and sure enough the phone is identified as the Nexus One on the system info page. Quite clearly this device is running on T-Mobile, and is also using WiFi, so there's two other questions you've got answers to. The phone also appears to come loaded up with Google Navigation (a bit of a no-brainer) and the brand-spanking-new Google Goggles. Hardware wise, the Nexus does look incredibly thin and sleek, and while there's not a slew of buttons (those four up front are clearly touch sensitive), there is a dedicated volume rocker along the side. Oh, and note this... no HTC logo anywhere to be found. We'll update the post as / if we get more info, but for now, feast your eyes on the gallery below!

Update: One item of interest. In the packaging there's a quick start guide which points users to a "questions" page at google.com/phone/support. The page is a dead end right now, but it certainly gets an eyebrow raise from us. If there is a real Google Phone in the offing, that seems a likely landing page for support.


Nexus One, The Google Phone, Captured In The Wild (Pictures)

Apparently, Googlers aren’t supposed to be tweeting the details of the Google Phone, but they have no problem tweeting about how awesome it is. And they also apparently have no problem showing it off. And not surprisingly, pictures of the device are starting to hit the web. Without further ado, this is it.

Cory O’Brien, a San Francisco-based blogger, got his hands on one tonight and tweeted out that picture. He also notes that, “Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android.”

As you can see, the Google Phone, which is apparently being called the “Nexus One” (for more on that, see here), does look exactly like the HTC Passion, which everyone was including in their posts earlier. You’ll also notice that there’s a key difference: It’s not HTC-branded at all.

Update: And here are some others that Engadget and others dug up: