Photo: HTC

Google has announced that it will no longer sell Nexus Ones from its online store, yet will continue making the phone available to retail partners and carriers.

The misstep

A lot was made of Google deciding to sell Google Nexus one unlocked. The support for the move came as a result of users being able to use their phone on any network of their choosing, a trend negated by many of the big smartphone manufacturers but wanted by many users. However, the immediate question most asked was why Google was getting into the hardware sales business and how Google would fair.

The prediction was the move was both against Google’s strength and it would be a comparative failure. Both these predictions were true, and Google is abandoning its direct Nexus One Sales.

Stick to your job

Photo: Stock.Xchng

Google is, ultimately, a software company. And this is reflected well in the Google Nexus One’s life cycle. Google Android, the mobile OS that powers the Nexus one, has done gangbuster numbers, with a recent report indicating that for the first time in its history, partner phones powered by the mobile OS have outsold the iPhone in North America. On the hardware side, however, the Google Nexus One is widely considered a failure.

Google itself has said this, with Andy Rubin, the head of mobile, saying ‘the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not’ in a blog post.

Now what?

With defeat admitted, Google has indicated it plans to push heavily into retail stores and to partner more aggressively with carriers. This strategy will let the software giant focus on its Google Android business, while those who know how to move consumer goods are allowed to move consumer goods. The Google Nexus One was a misstep, and all know this. At least something is being done to rectify this in future.

Photo: HTC

With embargos dropped, and wide availability across the UK, the opportunity to thoroughly review the beloved HTC Desire has come about. And, to little surprise, it does not disappoint.

Slim, sleek finish

The slim phone, measuring in at (in mm) 119 x 60 x 11.9, weighs a mere 133g. It has a rubberised grip, which is prone to slipping at inopportune times, and only has only six buttons on the phone: four front-facing buttons, which are standard fare on all HTC Android devices, and two side buttons.

More than a Nexus One clone

Photo: HTC

It must be prefaced that the similarities between this phone and the Google Nexus One – both are manufactured by HTC – are striking and for some, the addition of HTC’s Sense UI makes for a better device, whereas others would prefer it was not present. Sense is essentially HTC’s multiple home screens interface, that lets you widgetise all the apps you use frequently. You have seven screens you can alternate between, themed as you want, for quick access to groups of applications you use frequently.

The HTC Desire runs on Android 2.1, just like the Nexus One. It has a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 800 x 480, just like the Nexus One. It also has a 5-megapixel camera with native autofocus and 512mb of ROM, just like the Nexus One, too.

Where it differs from the Nexus One is in its optical track pad, which is fun to use for the rare occasions you will need to use it, and sits flush with the rest of the phone’s surface area.

Operating system and interface

Photo: HTC

Not much more can be said about Android 2.1 than has already been said. It’s a solid operating system, highly customisable in its ability to drop widgets to the home page as you need and, now with over 30,000 apps, finally has a decent base of applications for purchase. The phone’s touch screen is highly responsive and though it feels more ‘resistive’ than the iPhone’s, it works very well. Whether Sense UI is for you depends entirely on your preference.

Camera

The camera shoots images at an attractive 5:3 widescreen aspect ratio, which is different from the Nexus One’s 4:3 aspect ratio and the Legend’s 3:2 aspect ratio, even though all three phones have 5-megapixel cameras. The HTC Desire shoots videos in 800 x 480, which, though it isn’t quite 16:9 (it’s 15:9, for those who are interested), gives off great widescreen videos.

Thoughts

The HTC Desire is a smashing phone, in more ways than one. It is so well engineered, so well put together, that the fact that it’s a modified Google Nexus One fades very quickly from memory.

Photo: Twitter

Twitter, the micro blogging service that’s been on a tear for the last 18 months has changed its landing page for the better, highlighting who is on the service as well as important tweets.

Dynamic home page

The new, dynamic home page puts emphasis on two of Twitter’s core attractions – its users, as well as important tweets being shared on the service. The ‘see who’s here’ tab puts a spotlight on the celebrities, brands and corporations on the service.

Photo: HTC

The ‘top tweets’ feature uses a sophisticated algorithm to show which tweets are particularly notable. It’s likely that some of the top Tweets will be handpicked, too, otherwise all of the top tweets would come from celebrities and brands, defeating Twitter’s aim to be a micro-blogging platform for everybody.

Constant tweaking

This is the second time Twitter has significantly improved its home page within the last twelve months. Previously, Twitter added its search bar to the home page, as well as showing ‘trending topics’.

Landing page importance

Photo: Apple

A website’s landing page is possibly the most important page. Not only is it the first thing new users see, it also has to succinctly educate users on what the service is about and why it’s useful. Twitter, a company and service whose value is notorious for being difficult to explain, has attempted to address this by showing the people on their home page.

Staggered roll out

The Twitter homepage update is being rolled out slowly, with all users able to see it within the coming weeks. The staggered roll out will give Twitter the opportunity to test users’ response to it, as well as afford app developers who build standalone clients for smartphones like the Nexus One and iPhone an opportunity to begin thinking of how to integrate it.

Photo: HTC

Forbes reports that in the 74 days the Google Nexus One has been available, the handset has only been sold 135,000 times, making it an absolute flop.

Perspective

While 135,000 is nothing to be sneezed at, the Google Nexus One was positioned – by the press at least – as an iPhone 3GS competitor, both in terms of build quality and in terms of commercial viability. With the Android platform coming of age, with Android 2.1 on the horizon, and the phone being manufactured by the talented HTC team, build quality was never a problem. Commercial success however, was.

The numbers game

Photo: Apple

When comparing the Nexus One’s sales to that of the original iPhone after the same timeframe elapsed, the picture becomes bleaker. Mobile apps data analytics company Flurry estimates that over the same period, the iPhone sold 1 million units and the Motorola Droid moved 1,05 million units, both over seven times what the Google Nexus One sold. If one took the figures for the iPhone 3GS over the same period, the gulf would be even more exaggerated.

The online-only excuse failure

The other defense for this sales bomb could be that the device was retailed exclusively online. If recent reports that the iPad pre-sold 152,000 units in a weekend are accurate, it renders the online exclusivity argument moot.

Google is not a retailer

Photo: Apple

This confirms two things: firstly, Google should stick to its strength in software and not flirt with hardware retail and, secondly, Google Android still has a lot of catching up to do. Another revelation is that partnering with carriers, who have marketing and retail outlet strengths, is more sensible than trying to go it alone, even if you have the influence and reach a company like Google does.

Photo: Google

It seems Google and the Chinese government have been leaking information that the fracture between the company and the state has come to an impasse that will result in Google China pulling out altogether.

How we got here

Google first threatened to pull the plug on Google China after a string of web attacks originating from China hit their service. The attacks were focused on Gmail, where hackers were trying to get sensitive information on people –advocates for democracy and the like – they considered dangerous to the Chinese government.

Google used these attacks as a basis to push back against the government in a stand against Internet censorship, a move that was greeted with cheers and jeers considering Google themselves had long ceded to China’s Internet censorship demands in the past.

Where we are now

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Now, the freeze over on the relationship seems permanent, with the Chinese government telling major Chinese websites that Google may leave the country. Analysts are split on whether the likely departure of Google would bode well or not for Microsoft’s Bing, who are set to stay in China. In terms of search share, Microsoft ‘s Bing will immediately be buoyed, but criticism about Bing’s stance with regards to Internet censorship will be lodged with that company staying in China.

Other affected business units

Following this advance, the reverberations of Google’s decision to put their relationship with China on ice, Motorola announced it would stop supporting Google search and maps on its Android device in favour of Microsoft’s Bing search and Bing maps.

Google, and its partners, have indicated they want Android to become the dominant mobile phone platform in China’s burgeoning mobile devices industry. The freezing of Google China – which would impact not only the business’ search, but also dependent services like Gmail and maps in the country – would impact Android severely, even if Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, is earnest in saying they have no plans of pulling out of the mobile devices market.

Photo: HTC

This development comeson the heels of some of Android’s best devices being introduced to the world, spearheaded by the HTC Legend, HTC Desire and the Google Nexus One.

Clash of the Titans

Whatever Google ends up doing, this may be the largest development in state-corporation relations of all time. Google is easily one of the most powerful companies on the planet, and China’s economic growth seems to know no end, making this a real clash of the Titans analysts in tech and politics are likely to mull over for some time.

Photo: HTC

In a move reaffirming their commitment to Android, Google has given free Nexus One phones to all TED attendees. The Nexus One, a joint venture between Google and HTC, is the latest in the line of  mobile phones being developed for the Android platform. Google hopes those in attendance at TED can reaffirm the company’s belief in the platform, as well as get their friends to buy it.

The gathering of the smartest

Photo: HTC

TED, whose slogan is ‘Ideas worth spreading’, is an annual conference that happens in major cities around the world, attracting the brightest minds on the planet. People like Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver and Bill Clinton have given presentations and executives from the world’s biggest companies like Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google and Jeff Bezos of Amazon are regular attendees.

The Perfect audience

In this regard, the move was a stroke of genius. Google realises that TED is possibly the highest concentration of the most intelligent and influential people on the planet, and if their Android device is as good as Google clearly believes it is, the Nexus One giveaway could turn out to be Google’s greatest marketing move. The company, whose fortunes in Internet search were built nearly exclusively on word of mouth, looks to replicate this success with their Android platform and Nexus One handset.

Nexus One and Android

A great deal of buzz surrounded the Nexus One on its initial arrival. Virtually every phone developed for Android or by Blackberry is immediately compared to the iPhone, and the Nexus One was no different. The question surrounding the Nexus One before and after its launch was whether or not it was an ‘iPhone killer’, and the general feeling in tech circles is that it is the closest thing to competing with the iPhone.

Much to the Android team’s dismay, sales have been off to a slow start with a mere 20 000 units sold in its first week. Google, however, hope they have a slow-burning success on their hands and their word-of-mouth focus will ensure this.

Photo: HTC

The Nexus One, Google’s flagship HTC-manufactured Android phone, was launched with great fanfare but lacked what many consider a key Smartphone feature, multi-touch functionality. A soon-to-be-issued software update that fixes 3G connectivity issues also comes with limited multi-touch functionality for a handful of applications: Google Maps, the browser and gallery applications will now feature pinch-to-zoom functionality.

Patent Infringement Fears Dissipate

Photo: Apple

This feature has been omitted in this Android Smartphone up until now because it is believed that Apple holds the patent to it. Whether this is true, or whether it is in Apple’s interest to take legal action, is not known with certainty, so Google has gone ahead and added it to their Nexus One feature set.

Why Is This Important?

Present day multi-touch implementation is limited, but given this Apple patent, a multi-touch language capable of replacing all keyboard and mouse functions is not outside of the realm of possibility. Google, RIM and other competitors and innovators in the field are not ignorant of this possibility, hence the incredible R&D resources being developed for this surface-based technology. Taking a look at Portuguese company Displax’s technology should give an indication of where this technology is taking us.

The Nexus

Photo: Google

Google speaks of the Nexus as being the junction where great hardware meets great software and the omission of multi-touch, even in its current limited use, was widely regarded as a negative against the Nexus One, to the extent that the Android development team is aware of this and has reacted to it. This gives great credit to Google’s flexibility and willingness to adapt as they go along. The Smartphone Wars have only really just begun.