Google publicly unveils Nexus One

Google today publicly unveiled the Nexus One smartphone during a press event at its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The HTC-built Nexus One smartphone is powered by Google's Android 2.1 mobile OS, with a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touch-screen. The "superphone" as Google calls it, is jut 11.5 millimeters thick.  The AMOLED display has five customizable home screens, and phone owners will have easy access to an accelerometer, Google Maps, turn-by-turn navigation, virtual keyboard, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 512MB of on board storage and a microSD slot for expanded storage (with a 4GB microSD card included).

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The Nexus One has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon high-speed processor, with Google choosing the processor for its speed and ability to run multiple apps simultaneously.

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A track ball at the bottom of the phone changes colors when the phone owner receives a text message or new e-mail, and flashes blue when Bluetooth is enabled.

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The Nexus One also includes a 3D-display technology that provides "live wallpapers" from a preloaded selection, enabling user interaction with the backgrounds, such as water ripples or light flashes when touched.

Google officials noted they're happy with the progression of Android, which has picked up noticeable interest in 2009.

The Nexus One is available online directly from Google and retails for $529 unlocked without a carrier.  The phone works with any GSM carrier, but sadly, it only supports T-Mobile's 3G network.  The Nexus One will work on AT&T wireless with an AT&T SIM card, but it will only be able to utilize the slower EDGE data network there.  The Nexus One is also available for $179 with a two-year T-Mobile contract.

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The subsidized price offered by T-Mobile locks the user into a plan that includes 500 anytime minutes, unlimited night and weekend minutes, unlimited text and picture messaging and unlimited data for $79.99 per month.

In other carrier news, Google announced that a CDMA version of the Nexus One will soon be available for use on Verizon Wireless.

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