Hallelujah! I just watched this video showing that the recent Nexus One OTA update brings multi-touch to the device! Hooray! Below is a video from AndroidCentral.com that shows the three apps that make the most use of this feature;
The bowser
Google Maps
and Gallery
The update also includes Google Goggles, a ’3G switching to EDGE’ fix and more!
If you haven’t gotten the OTA yet, Android Central has a great walk through on manually updating your Nexus One.
In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from their thoughts as well as the video:
Enjoy.
‘Multitouch on the Nexus One, for all intents and purposes, is the same as multitouch anywhere else (any by that we mean the iPhone, natch). Pinch to zoom, spread your fingers to zoom out. There’s a slightly weird elasticity to it — the motion continues slightly after your fingers have stopped. We wouldn’t call it a bug; it’s just a noticeable difference.’
Just saw this tidbit over at TmoNews.com regarding the Nexus One 3G issue. You remember that one? Apparently the Nexus One has a hard time deciding whether it wants to be on T-Mobile’s 3G network or on EDGE and constantly swaps back and forth between the two. It is reported that devices display this behavior in areas where there should be full 3G coverage.
Well, a Google employee posted on Google Support Forums that the issue was due to ‘being on the edge or outside of 3G coverage, which a product fix cannot address.’
Now the employee did say this ‘may be due to’ so I’m not necessarily agreeing with TmoNews that this employee is blaming T-mobile’s coverage, (Article here) but it does seem weird that they mention how ’other T-Mobile handsets (such as the G1) work perfectly fine in the same locations.’
I don’t find this entirely true in my experience. Where I reside, we’re well within T-Mobile’s 3G coverage and while my G1 was functioning, I experienced this issue in numerous areas but especially inside my home. On my front porch, I would have solid 3G. Once inside, I could literally watch it go from 3G to EDGE every few seconds.
I just chalked it up as the network not liking my walls but didn’t blame it on T-Mobile’s 3G service as I have nothing but good things to say about it.
The Google Employee did say there will be an update via OTA soon that will help the issue but until then, what has been your experience? Anyone with a G1 or a Nexus One have the same issue within Magenta’s 3G borders?
It has been interesting to watch Google as they promote the Nexus One across their network of online services. We spotted Nexus One Adsense banners the day the phone was announced which were followed by ad spots on Google.com, Gmail.com, YouTube.com, and a host of other Google domains.
Google has another trick to keep the Nexus One hype growing on YouTube, the 4th largest site on the Internet. Several of the top YouTube users began receiving Nexus One phones last week in order to create sponsored videos that would promote the device. No word has been given on how many phones were sent out, but at least 10 videos have appeared on the Google Nexus One YouTube page.
Below is a small sample of videos that have received several million views. We can see a lot of people are watching these videos, but will that translate into more Nexus One sales?
I came across this video comparison of the new Google Nexus One and the iPhone 3Gs and although it’s a bit long, (18 minutes), it is a pretty good comparison and worth the watch. Only thing I didn’t like was the comparison of the auto-spell/correct features of both handsets. When comparing them, the reviewer mistakenly typed in the ‘To:’ field for a new message on the Android powered handset so the auto-correct feature didn’t kick on making the iPhone look like it was better in this area. He mentions it with a You Tube annotation but I wish we could see them compared again on video as these handsets are neck & neck for the ‘Jesus Phone’ race. Other than that, it’s an informative, non-biased review. Enjoy.
So after all the hype, the Nexus One came to fruition yesterday to fan fair as well as haters. From what I’ve gathered reading the blogs, tweets and comments of others is that the main gripes from the haters so far is:
Not enough innovation on the OS side. New UI but mostly the same bells & whistles as current Android devices.
Way over priced.
Now I may be a little biased at this point due to me needing a new device right now so I’m going to purchase this handset and I know I’m going to love it. But, as to the cost, I think that is best summed up in my own words.
I am used to purchasing my phones at full cost for the past six years. The main reason I’ve done this is I don’t like contracts. Although I’ve used T-Mobile USA for more than five years, I don’t like the idea of an ETF looming over my head in the event that I want to go to another carrier. At times I have purchased handsets used. Like my G1 (RIP) which I purchased for $315.00 last March off of Ebay. So I will not be signing a contract to purchase the Nexus 1 and I know that $530.00 is a lot of coin for a phone.
But, it should be realized that this is more than a phone.
We all know that the device can play music. All forms of music which is more than I can say for many music devices. (Android devices are the only ones I’ve seen that will play the .ogg format. I’m sure there are others out there but I haven’t used them.) The device comes to you with a 4GB card for storing music. Oh, it plays videos as well so let’s call it a media player. A quick search on Ebay and I found a SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB Black MP3 Player with a buy it now price of $52.99 and the shipping is free but if I want it fast, it’s an additional $4.99 so that brings us to $57.98.
It’s also a navigation device with free GPS service. I know that the G1 provides this and while on a trip to Eastern Washington I discovered that the GPS will still work even without a SIM card in the device. Granted the only maps available without service are any that are cached on the device but I was still able to get my coordinates for free. I can only assume that the Nexus One will also provide this service for free as well. (I had a Blackberry Curve and Telenav wanted $15.00/month for GPS service.)
So, to Ebay again, I found a Tom Tom XL 340.S for $119.95 + $9.75 for shipping. This device has a bad review stating that it’s memory couldn’t handle the first update so that’s pretty lame IMO. That brings our grand total to $187.68.
The Nexus One has a 5 mega pixel camera. Ebay. First item. A New Argus DC 5185 5 meg camera with a whopping 32MB of storage (lol) and the thing takes AAA batteries. If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to purchase a camera that uses regular batteries you know that they usually don’t last very long. Near as I can tell this camera doesn’t record video and the view screen is only 1.5 in so the Nexus One is a better camera it seems. Price: $38.24.
Last and perhaps most importantly, the Nexus One is a phone/internet tablet. So real quick I found an LG CU500 UNLOCKED QUAD GSM PHONE with a buy it now price of $43.95 and a Nokia 770 Internet Tablet with a buy it now price of $100.00 plus $6.85 shipping.
I’m not including sales tax as I live in Oregon and we hate that shite. lol
So in this example, the total is now $376.72, this is a far cry from $530.00 but let me justify it by putting it this way:
I’m on the internet a lot. Almost an unhealthy amount. This has made me guilty of loving instant gratification so I want & need all of these devices but I not only want them all right now, I want them all in one package. So to me, I’m paying an additional $154.00 to get them all in one and right away. Plus it will have the cool UI and I’ll be the envy of at least some of my friends.
So the device is more than a phone and although the G1 & My Touch devices can pretty much do the same things right now… I need a new device and I have a suspicion that this device will do all these things faster than the aforementioned devices since it has the 1 gig Snapdragon processor.
That being said, the device may be expensive if you purchase it unlocked but I feel it’s absolutely worth it for what the device truly is, how it looks and it’s performance. Plus, you’re not tied to one carrier. Yes, I know that it only supports the AWS spectrum for T-Mobile USA but that’s not my point.
One final thought, when the iPhone came out back in ’07, it cost more than $600.00, you had to sign a two year contract with AT&T and you couldn’t insure it nor purchase it unlocked from them or Apple. They still sold over a million of them and the device didn’t support IM or MMS for a loooong time.
The Nexus One already supports those features and many, many more.
Android Guys have started a Public Google Wave discussion regarding Google’s announcement of the Nexus One starting today at 10am PST. For those of you with a Google Wave account, enter this search string to join!
group:public@a.gwave.com “OFFICIAL NEXUS ONE STUFF”
And if you don’t have a Google Wave account but would like one, send a message via Twitter to me, @Krubuntu, as I have quite a few invites!
Cnet News is promising live coverage of Google’s press release today. Here is a direct link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10424433-265.html?tag=mncol;posts and the page states to keep refreshing for information starting at 10:00am PST. So, anyone excited? I sure am! I will continue posting new information as soon as I can get it!
[Update2]
8:00 AM PST: CNET is reporting they will offer live coverage of the event.
I know, I know, there’s more to Android news and apps than the Nexus One but I just can’t help myself. The announcement from Google is tomorrow and as such, many videos are coming in and I gotta tell ya’, this device is awesome!
So below is a video from YouTube user djnicho who, as near as I can tell, has posted the first video review of the Nexus One. Now, it’s not so much a review as djnicho praising the phone. He does compare it physically to the iPhone and the Nexus is a tad bit thinner but the screen realestate is the same. (Which we already knew from the specs.)
So here’s the video and watch for a post tomorrow once the announcement takes place. (Of course!)
After several weeks of waiting, we finally have the full spec sheet for the Nexus One thanks to Engadget. Most of the specs are just what we expected except for the amount of RAM. We had heard rumors it was being beefed up and we can now confirm the Nexus One has 512 MB RAM (2x the 256 MB of the Droid).
Engadget is also reporting that the first batch of phones will be available only by “invitation” from Google. We were lucky enough to be invited to Google I/O 2009 where we received the Google Ion phone so I’m crossing my fingers we get a special invite to review the Nexus One.
The other good news is that T-Mobile will eventually sell the Nexus One at some point in the future. We are still waiting to get an official launch date and retail pricing.
Highlights of the Nexus One include:
Android 2.1
11.5mm thick
512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 4GB microSD in-box expandable to 32GB
5 megapixel camera with mechanical AF and LED flash
HSPA 900 / 1700 / 2100, 7.2Mbps down and 2Mbps up — in other words, yes to T-Mobile 3G and no to AT&T 3G
3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display
Looks Good
Only thing that concerns me about this handset is the battery life. I’ve been super satisfied with my G-1 and the only complaint that I have is the battery goes down so fast while using 3G or Wi-Fi. So if the Nexus One truly uses VoIP for the majority of calls, that’s going to eat into the amount of juice it can hold. Other than that, these specs are exciting!
