Nexus One: Hype about Nothing

The more I read about the new Google phone, named Nexus One, the more I wonder why I bother. Sure, it sounds like a nice phone and will be a good competitor to the Droid and maybe the iPhone (although I think the absence of multi-touch would be a big down-side to me), but it is just another smart phone. Yes, it has nice features, maybe advances the art incrementally, but that’s all. It is nothing earth shattering.

The one thing that might be earth shattering, and some are saying it is, is that Google is going to sell them on-line with a contact or unlocked without a contract. Sounds nice although this isn’t that different then what you can already do on Amazon or NewEgg. Still, unlocked phones is a concept I approve of. Only the Google phone, at least in the USA, for all practical purposes isn’t really unlocked. Yes, it might not be software locked, but it is hardware locked. In the USA different carriers use different technologies and/or frequencies which are not compatible. Currently there is only a version that will work on the T-Mobile network. They claim that they will also add a Verizon network friendly version – but still no version that will work on other networks such as AT&T. To me as an end user, it means nothing if a phone is unlocked if it will only work on one network because of hardware limitations. All of this reminds me of the Henry Ford quote, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.”