The Nexus One “superphone” revolution appears to be experiencing some backlash. Google’s Nexus One has been available for less than a week, yet customers and developers are already amassing a growing list of issues and complaints.
Nexus One Repairs at Dr. Cell Phone
The speculation leading up to the Nexus One launch event, and the hype dished out by Google during the press event suggest that this is not just another smartphone. No, it’s not even just another Android smartphone. This is the first Android 2.1 smartphone, and the first Google-branded smartphone, and the first smartphone marketed directly from Google’s new online storefront.
While Android has already developed an army of loyalists quick to react to anything less than glowing praise by labeling the source either as a biased Apple fanboy, or an out-of-touch Luddite, there is also a growing chorus of complaints from both users and developers suggesting that the Nexus One honeymoon might be over almost as quickly as it began.
Customer Support
For some of the customers first in line to grab a Nexus One, excitement did not take long to turn into frustration. The Google support forums have filled up with users complaining that the Nexus One 3G connectivity is flaky. Users appear to be experiencing issues ranging from never getting a 3G connection, to Nexus One devices that constantly flip between 3G and EDGE connectivity.
That isn’t the real problem, though. The Nexus One is a complex device that performs a variety of functions and users are bound to encounter issues. The real problem is figuring out which entity is supposed to be responsible for answering questions and providing support.
Google touted its market-revolutionizing strategy of selling the devices directly from its own Web site rather than distributing them through a wireless provider. Of course, you could already buy mobile phones on the Web–with or without a service plan–from popular online destinations like Amazon and Best Buy, and you still have to get service from a provider. The only one currently available is T-Mobile which makes the Nexus One purchase experience a lot like buying it from T-Mobile’s Web site.
If you buy a Nexus One manufactured by HTC, directly from Google’s Web site, and use it with T-Mobile’s wireless network–who do you call when you have a problem? Google is only accepting support requests via e-mail, and users are getting bounced between T-Mobile and HTC as neither seems equipped to answer complaints, or willing to accept responsibility for supporting the Nexus One.
Developer Support
One of the leading measures of the success of a smartphone platform is its apps. Android will not challenge the iPhone for most apps any time soon, but the open source platform is popular with developers and the Android Market has over 20,000 apps available.
Developers are disgruntled, though, by the lack of tools for the new Android 2.1 platform. Google apparently wanted to keep the new bells and whistles of Android 2.1 secret for the Nexus One launch.
Now the Nexus One is available, and Android 2.1 will soon be available as an update for existing Android-based handsets, but Google has yet to release an SDK (software developers’ kit) to provide developers with the tools they need to be able to develop apps that leverage the new bells and whistles, or just to make sure the apps they have already developed are compatible with Android 2.1.
Vendor Support
Prior to the rumors and speculation about the Nexus One, the Android story revolved around the quickly growing number of Android-based devices available from an increasingly diverse collection of manufacturers.
Verizon invested heavily in generating buzz and marketing the launch of the Motorola Droid. The Droid was the first Android 2.0 device, and the Motorola hardware made the Droid a compelling platform rivaling the iPhone.
That was just over two months ago. Now, the Motorola Droid has had its thunder stolen by the HTC Nexus One. The Droid will get the Android 2.1 update soon, but its hardware is not capable of delivering all of the functionality of the latest platform.
Google’s partnership with HTC, and its entry into the Android smartphone arena leaves other vendors like Motorola and Samsung at a disadvantage. If the Nexus One launch is any indication, Google and HTC may always be one step ahead of the competition, designing devices that incorporate new functionality that competitors aren’t yet aware of.
I am sure Google did not anticipate that jumping into the smartphone market would be all wine and roses, but I suspect that it thought the honeymoon might last more than a week. Google’s new venture gives it a lot of plates to keep spinning–working with wireless providers and hardware manufacturers, cultivating developers, and supporting customers.
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Google today announced the Nexus One, a new HTC phone that showcases the latest version of the Android mobile operating system–Android 2.1. Google also announced today a new smartphone marketplace where consumers can buy phones and service plans, and get setup and support information for Android devices.
The Nexus One is $529 when purchased directly from Google, or $179 from T-Mobile with a two-year contract.
1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm (very fast)
480 x 800 OLED display (for brilliant colors and deep contrast)
5-megapixel camera with LED flash
Audio stereo Bluetooth
Active noise cancellation using two microphones
Live-action wallpaper that responds to your touch
Google Maps navigation
Improved Facebook integration
The Nexus One features a number of software and user interface niceties, but these look like natural, incremental improvements on the Android OS. Nothing revolutionary here, as some had expected by all the hype Google had generated around this event.
Perhaps the coolest one is the phone’s voice-to-text capability. Not only can you perform text searches, but you can now populate any text field in the UI by talking. This is huge, given the size and input limitations of smartphones. It’s far easier to talk to your phone than it is to type on the screen, especially when you’re trying to do something else, like driving (of course, we don’t recommend driving and typing at the same time).
The Nexus One also features a cool new Google Earth app for mobile. The hi-res images of earth looked fantastic on the Nexus One’s screen. The app also responds to voice commands, allowing a user to speak a location, prompting the app to move to that location on the map.
The phone also features new UI innovations for browsing pictures and organizing apps on the home page. And, as expected, the Nexus One features interactive wallpaper that moves by itself or in response to user screen touches.
All of the software innovations seen on the Nexus One are part of the Android 2.1 operating system, so they will all migrate to other Android phones when those phones have their software upgraded to 2.1 in the coming months. Google would not be more specific on when this would actually happen.
New Marketplace
As noted, Google today moved from just being a maker of operating systems and other software to being a retailer of mobile phones and service plans.
The Google phone marketplace now sells only one phone, the Nexus One, and one service plan, from T-Mobile, but Google says it will add more devices and carriers in the coming months. For instance, smartphone buyers will be able to get a Nexus One that runs on the Verizon network this spring, and Europe’s Vodaphone is on board for that time frame as well.
Google says it wants to provide a place where consumers can go to easily shop for smartphones and service plans, and get support on setting up and using new phones.
One interesting aspect to all this is the reaction of other handset makers that have adopted, and invested millions in, the Android OS for their phones. With the perception that the Nexus One is the “Google phone,” the new phone could tempt smartphone buyers away from other Android phones, like the Motorola Droid, for instance. And for good reason: the Nexus One is the only phone on the market with Android 2.1. Why would I buy a Droid now, when the Droid has a lesser OS and a slower processor?
Google seems to have anticipated this tension. Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha was present on the stage today, and said his company does not see the new Nexus One, or the new Google marketplace, as a threat. “We just see this as another way at getting to consumers,” he said. “I don’t see it as a threat; this is potentially an expansion to the marketplace.”
The new Android OS will eventually come to other phones. HTC CEO Peter Chou says Android 2.1 will soon come to its Droid Eris phone. And the Android 2.1 OS will eventually come to the Motorola Droid too, but it’s not clear if it will be weeks, or months, before that update happens.
We’re less than 24 hours away from Google’s special event on Tuesday morning, when the company is expected to launch a Google-brandedsuperphone, the Nexus One. But according to recent reports, this GSM-based device is just another smartphone that can only boast a few slight improvements over other Android devices already out there such as Motorola’s Droid. It’s important to remember that nothing is official until Google makes its announcement, but here’s what to expect on Tuesday based on reports from around the Web.
The Phone
Over the weekend, Engadget posted a brief overview of what it claims is the Nexus One. The gadget blog’s initial verdict is that the Nexus One, while a nice phone, is not a game changer for the mobile industry. The device’s most prominent feature is believed to be its speed, which is all about the device’s rumored 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU. The next fastest phone, by comparison, is the Palm Pre with a 600Mhz chip. The Nexus One has a tweaked user interface for improved navigation, and other interesting display features like “live” wallpapers that animate in the background.
The Nexus One is also supposed to have a 3.7-inch display, microSD card slot expandable up to 32GB, a 5-megapixel camera with LED Flash, 512MB of ROM, and 512MB of RAM. Google’s handset was built by HTC and is slightly thinner than the iPhone.
The Nexus One is Touchy, But Not Feely
Google has reportedly omitted multitouch capabilities from the Nexus One, even though the device’s operating system, Android 2.1, can support it. This is not the first time an Android device has left off multitouch. Reports surfaced last February claiming that Google didn’t support multitouch on the G1 after arequest from Apple — which, at the time, was believed to be vigorously protecting its patents on multitouch.
But the relationship between Google and Apple haschanged dramatically since then, so it’s a mystery as to why Google would leave out multitouch this time around.
Terms of Sale
Nexus One has two price tag options, according to recent document leaks, and you will buy the phone directly from Google. Your first option is to buy the phone under a two-year contract with T-Mobile for $180, and you’ll only have one phone plan option that will run you about $80 for talk, text, and data.
The second option is to buy an unlocked version of the phone for $530, and choose any phone plan you want. Some industry experts doubt a high-priced, no-contract phone will be a winner for Google, but it’s worth noting that the most popular cell phone sold on Amazon over the holidays was an unlocked version of the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music handset. However, Nokia’s phone sold for $270, well below the Nexus One’s unlocked price tag of $530.
Engadget is reporting that the Nexus One will not work on AT&T’s 3G network, the only other GSM carrier in the U.S. So unless you’re happy with AT&T’s more sluggish EDGE network for your mobile data connection, you’re pretty much stuck with T-Mobile.
Questions Remain
The Nexus One sounds like it could be a very respectable smartphone, but why does Google feel the need to launch a device that is only a slight improvement over the Motorola Droid? If Google were doing something radical — like offering a free, ad-supported device — the Nexus One would make more sense. But offering a seemingly typical smartphone that can only boast speed as its best attribute? That doesn’t sound to me like a good reason for the search giant to launch a Google-branded device. I guess we’ll have to wait until Tuesday to see whether Google has any tricks up its sleeve to make the Nexus One more compelling.
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