Google’s Nexus: One phone isn’t gonna change anything
dan tynan on Jan 08 2010 at 11:48 am | Filed under: Apple, Cringley, Gadgets, Google, Infoworld
So earlier this week Google did indeed unveil the Nexus One “superphone,” and yet life is strangely similar to how it was on Monday.
I did not attend yesterday’s highly anticipated press event, but based on the live blog coverage (as well as the live blog coverage of the live blog coverage) it appears to have been rather a ho-hum affair.
Cool looking phone? You bet. Thin, light, OLED touch screen, voice-enabled keyboard, whizzy software, yadda yadda yadda. Life changing? Not exactly.
Still, as John Stokes of Ars Technica put it, the biggest Google news yesterday was a URL: google.com/phone. That’s where US consumers can buy an unlocked Nexus One directly from Google (for a whopping $529), as well as one with a two-year-commitment to T-Mobile (a less whopping $179).
Of course, if you go for the unlocked version your carrier options are still a) T-Mobile, or b) AT&T (but only at slower 2G data speeds — quick, cue up the Verizon “There’s a map for that” ads). Those are the only two US carriers that support GSM, the radio built into the Nexus One. So what you get for your extra $350 is still a little fuzzy at this point.
The question is what happens next. Google says it will serve up a CDMA-based phone that will work on Verizon’s network this spring. Nice, but again it’s an unlocked phone that’s still kinda-sorta locked to one network (unless you only plan to use it as a WiFi device).
What Google is driving at, of course, is a world where cell phones (and really, that name is now wholly outdated) are sold the way personal computers have always been sold — unencumbered by a commitment to a single Internet provider. No more lock in: Pick your phone, choose your carrier, select your plan, in that order. And, theoretically at least, carriers would then have to actually compete for your dollars — giving them a greater incentive to provide higher quality service than they do now.
Sounds great. If there was ever an industry ripe for disrupting, the notoriously unpopular yet massively profitable wireless telecom industry is it. It would require somebody with Google’s cash and cojones to pull it off.
That’s why everyone got so lathered up when Google bid for big chunks of the old analog TV spectrum back in ’08, in the hopes it would compete directly with the wireless companies. Google didn’t win, though. Verizon did. And I’m willing to bet Verizon is going to take that spectrum and sit on it a good long while in the hopes everyone will forget who owns it.
So I’m hoping the Nexus One Store will prove to be the first step in the Great Wireless Disruption. But freedom won’t truly ring until you can buy one phone that works on all the major telecom networks. When Google pulls that off, then we’ll talk.
In related notes: The Google announcement really makes me appreciate what a showman Steve Jobs really is. This was arguably the most closely watched Google unveiling I can remember. Mostly Google tends to “announce” new products and services by blogging about them. This is a major shift in its business model, and yet who’s out there leading the charge? A trio of relative unknowns (OK, Andy Rubin is well known among phone wonks).
But still, given the buildup to the announcement, the breathless anticipation, and the timing (right before CES), you’d think instead of Manny, Moe, and Jack we might have seen Eric, Sergey, or Larry. Like maybe Google actually considered this a big deal.
As I wrote a few days ago, Google is now battling Apple for world domination. But would Steve Jobs have allowed Apple to deliver such a ho-hum announcement? Not a chance. As they say in Zombieland, it’s time for Google to nut up or shut up.
Is Nexus One Store a big deal? Would you buy an unlocked phone if you could only use it with one network? Post your thoughts below or email me: dan@dantynan.com.
This post first appeared on InfoWorld. It now appears here. Weird, ain’t it?
Cool Nexus photo courtesy of Engadget. They get all the cool toys first.
There is more in the world than AT&T and T-Mobile, how about the rest of the world? Try to write with a perspective other than USA centered. Anyway, we probably can not buy this phone elsewhere for the moment, so we are stuck with iPhone, which is too expensive outside USA. Looking forward to a more open Smart Phone, than getting stuck buying content at iTunes.
vodaphone will apparently be offering the nexus, though I’m not sure where or when.
as for the US focus, sorry dude, but that’s where I (and the vast majority of my readers) live. we’re stuck with these huge impossible wireless companies. you should feel sorry for us.
cheers
dt
Don’t underestimate the power of Google. We must remember, this giant that sits before us wasn’t supposed to succeed to begin with. Now look at ‘em. Google mis-handled this deal to begin with. They set sail into unknown waters (physical market) and way underestimated the power of the industry they have choosen to wage a battle against; but Google learns fast and they have the time and pockets to adapt. In the end the wireless industry will be changed and it will be to the credit of Google. I think Google’s original intent was to remove networks from the picture completely and though they missed the boat, they will at least change their role.