Google's Nexus Two Repair Services available at Dr. Cell Phone
Google and Samsung may be gearing up to announce the Nexus Two Android phone at a press conference in New York on November 8, sources tell the Android site AndroidandMe.
Earlier this week, Samsung sent out invitations to the event for an unveiling of “a new Android device.” Given that the company just recently rolled out its high-end Galaxy S line of Android phones, the new device must be something special to warrant a media event of its own.
Anonymous sources tell the site that Samsung’s new phone will be the first device to ship with the just-completed Android 2.3 version, which also goes by the codename “Gingerbread”, and it will soon be available on multiple carriers.
Google’s January release of the Nexus One, which was built by HTC and dubbed a “superphone” because of its next-generation hardware, gave Android manufacturers a template to follow for the rest of the year. Given that Samsung just released some of the most polished Android hardware on the market, it makes sense that Google would want to leverage that to carry on the Nexus phone line.
Even if it’s not officially dubbed the Nexus Two, Samsung’s upcoming phone could well be a “Google experience” phone just like the Nexus One — meaning it will be getting its software updates directly from Google, instead of from the mobile carriers. Google has historically brought out major Android releases to the Nexus One faster than the carriers. Samsung Galaxy S users are still awaiting the Android 2.2 “Froyo” update, which has been delayed several times to the end of November.
Dr. Cell Phone’s Official Oscar says “Nexus One Repair Services to be extended to Google’s Nexus Two. Most of the hardware components such as charging port, microphone, speaker and Signal Transceiver remain same on many upcoming updates. Replacement Parts such as LCD (AMOLED), Touch screen, digitizer and the motherboard would be available only after the phone is released.”
The big takeaway? Wait two weeks before buying a new Android phone, because it seems like Samsung definitely has something interesting planned.
Nexus One Cracked Screen Repair available at Dr. Cell Phone
As totally awesome and exciting as the Nexus One might be, with any new device there are bound to be some growing pains – for instance, you might have heard about issues with the phone’s 3G connectivity. Well, Google has too and while the cause is less than clear, the company assures us it’s working feverishly to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, that isn’t the only problem newly minted Nexus One owners are noticing. According to a lively discussion on Google’s Android forum, some folks are experiencing extreme touchscreen calibration issues after cold booting the phone — problems that resolve themselves (temporarily) after putting the thing to sleep and then turning it back on. That said, the good folks at Google assure us they’re on the case. If it turns out that it’s a hardware problem, it’ll be covered under your warranty. Software? They’ll issue a patch for it.
If your Nexus One is not covered under warranty due to what Google might call misuse or physical damage, Dr. Cell Phone can help you with your HTC Nexus One Repair options. Most Repairs like Cracked Screen Replacement, USB/Charging Port Repair and 3G Connectivity issues can be fixed while you wait at one of our Dallas or Houston Locations. For folks outside Texas, we offer expedited mail-in Nexus One Repair Service with turn around time as low as one business day.
Google is finally letting the Nexus One use multi-touch for maps, photo galleries and the Web, but that’s of little consolation to owners of Motorola’s Droid and T-Mobile’s G1.
Nexus One Repairs Now Available at Dr. Cell Phone
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that at least one more Android phone is getting pinch-to-zoom gestures, and it’s never been clear why certain phones don’t include the feature. Rumor has it Apple requested that Google avoid multi-touch back when the companies were cozy, but Google may no longer want to comply now that the relationship has soured.
We don’t know the terms of the arrangement — or whether it actually exists – so it’s unclear whether Google could ever add multi-touch to older phones. For all we know, there may be issues with the Droid and G1 that preclude Google from releasing a simple update, regardless of whether Apple’s involved.
Whatever the reason may be, the Droid and the G1 lack multi-touch for core Android apps, even though the hardware in both phones supports multi-touch gestures. This doesn’t seem like an issue of older versus newer versions of Android, because HTC’s Droid Eris, which runs Android 1.6, supports multi-touch, as does Motorola’s Milestone, the European version of the Droid running Android 2.0.
Nonetheless, the Droid’s and G1’s missing multi-touch is an argument against Android’s fragmentation. Android phones aren’t all on the same page, with different hardware, user interfaces and versions of the operating system. A similar issue came up with Google Maps Navigation, which at first was supported on Android versions 2.0 and higher. Droid Eris and G1 owners eventually got the update that makes navigation possible.
It’s a shame that you can’t purchase and Android phone knowing for sure that you’ll get multi-touch, or when a new feature such as Maps Navigation will be brought to your older phone. The flexibility of Android lets users decide on the hardware and user interface that’s right for them, but that choice comes at a cost.
The Google Nexus One, the much-hyped smartphone that has recently been plagued by user complaints, sold only about 20,000 units in its first week of sales, according to analytics firm Flurry. In comparison, theMotorola Droid on Verizon Wireless–the other Android phone that had been buzzed about in November–sold 250,000 in its first week. The T-Mobile myTouch 3G, an earlier Android device, sold 60,000 units in its first week.
Dr. Cell Phone Mail-in Repair for Android Phones
The most likely reason the Google Nexus One isn’t selling well has to do with the way in which it is being sold. The much-talked about model of selling phones–both unlocked and on contract from T-Mobile–directly from the Google online store has led to poor customer support and confusion about how to get service from T-Mobile. User complaints and the unflattering word-of-mouth could cause the phone’s sales to slow even further.
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.
New photos and a hands-on description have compared Google’s custom-built Nexus One handset, rumored to be for sale to the public next month, with Apple’s iPhone [updated with hardware specs].
Jason Chen of Gizmodo received some hands-on time with the hardware thanks to an anonymous source. He called the long-rumored, supposed Google Phone a “Droid killer” — ironic, because Motorola attempted to position its Droid, which launched in November, as an “iPhone killer.”
Chen said the Nexus one is slightly thinner and lighter than the iPhone 3GS. The back is somewhat rubbery, and feels less “cheap,” he said, than the iPhone’s plastic back.
“You can call the design the antithesis of the Droid: smooth, curved, and light, instead of hard, square and pointy,” he said. “It feels long and silky and natural in your hand — even more so than the iPhone 3GS.”
Loading a Web page over Wi-Fi, the Nexus One was found to be the fastest of the three phones. The iPhone 3GS reportedly loaded a page “a few seconds later,” while the Droid came in third. Chen said the results were consistent with a number of Web sites.
The Nexus One and iPhone 3GS reportedly had similar results with a Javascript benchmark test, though Mobile Safari on the iPhone scored better. The Droid came short of both handsets, with a score level at about 60 percent of its competitors.
The Nexus One screen was described as superior, with “vibrant” colors and darker blacks than its competitors. It was also said to be brighter. In comparison, Chen said the Droid and iPhone screens seemed “washed out.”
“This is probably the best screen we’ve seen on a smartphone so far,” he said. “Probably.”
The Nexus One’s 5-megapixel camera includes flash, though the picture quality was said to be unspectacular. The camera has autofocus, but does not have the tap-to-focus feature seen on the iPhone 3GS.
Google’s handset also lacks multi-touch, was said to have mediocre music playback over it speakers, and call quality was not tested.
Google Nexus Android Phone Repair At Dr. Cell Phone
