THE NEXUS ONE - SMARTPHONE FROM GOOGLE

Runs the Google Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system

Google recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a phone that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and they shared this phone with Google employees across the globe according to Mario Queiroz, Vice President of Product Management.

The Nexus One is a very slick and beautiful phone that almost makes other devices look out dated. Rather than going the direction of the Motorola Droid with its hard edged corners, it took on the characteristics of the iPhone head-on by creating a curvier device. Where the iPhone flattens out on the top and bottom, the Nexus One takes on subtle curves that make the phone feel less boxy. The face of the phone even curves down slightly at the very bottom.

The Nexus One (codenamed 'HTC Passion) is a smartphone from Google that uses the Android open source mobile operating system. The device is manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corporation, and became available on January 5, 2010. Features of the phone include the ability to transcribe voice to text, noise canceling dual microphones, and GPS guided turn-by-turn voice directions to drivers.

The device is sold unlocked (not restricted to use on a single network provider). Google currently offers it for use on the T-Mobile and AT&T networks in the United States; a version for use on Vodafone (European) networks was announced on 26 April 2010, available in the UK on 30 April 2010. On March 16, 2010, the Nexus One device became available on the Google web store for sale in Canada for use with Rogers Wireless, Telus, Bell and Wind Mobile.

The Nexus One runs the Google Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system. Android 2.2 has a number of highlights: a new Home screen, support for Adobe Flash 10.1, better Microsoft Exchange support, Wifi tethering, SD-card installable applications, cloud to device messaging for two-way push sync functionality and an overall 2-5x performance improvement.

The previous 2.1 firmware of the Android operating system adds a few aesthetic changes, such as "Live Wallpapers", which are animated and can react to different user inputs. It also replaces the "Application Drawer" with a single button which can be pressed to access the list of applications installed on the phone. This thumbnail list can be scrolled up and down and, as it's scrolled, the applications roll up into a 3D cube instead of disappearing from the screen. Once the bottom of the application thumbnail list is hit, the screen bounces off similar to the iPhone functionality.

The integrated Media Gallery, developed by Cooliris, provides several new features allowing the user to browse, edit, and share photos and videos on the phone. The Media Gallery and web browser display with 16-bit color rather than 24-bit.

On February 2, 2010 Google announced an over-the air update for the Nexus One. It adds pinch-to-zoom functionality to the web browser, gallery, and maps applications. In addition it adds Google Goggles natively and fixes many of the 3G connectivity issues reported by T-Mobile users. As of April 2010, Android-based phones have access to more than 50,000 applications through the Android Market.

The Nexus One has a 3.7 inch AMOLED screen with PenTile matrix pixel arrangement. The raster resolution is 800x480 pixels, however each pixel in the PenTile RGBG display has only two subpixels (red and green, or blue and green alternately), rather than the three found in most displays. This gives it a total effective subpixel resolution of a 392x653 RBG display.

The capacitive touchscreen which uses the Synaptics ClearPad 2000 sensor supports multi-touch gestures limited to single finger input and 2x1D two finger gestures. It has an illuminated trackball which can emit different colors of light based on the type of notification being received. A voice processor developed by Audience uses a second microphone (on the back) to suppress background noise during phone conversations. A 4-conductor TRRS style 3.5mm stereo headset jack is also provided, adding microphone and pause/resume/next/previous functions to the stereo earphones.

The phone features a 5.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and digital zoom, GPS receiver, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and 802.11b/g WiFi capabilities. The Snapdragon processor allows for many advanced capabilities including 720p video playback. There is built in hardware decoding for H.263, H.264 and MPEG-4 video, and is capable of playing MP3, AAC+, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, and MIDI audio, and displaying the JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP image formats. It has a micro USB port which conforms to the GSMA Universal Charging Solution instead of the common mini-USB port, or HTC's mini-USB compatible format (ExtUSB). The microSD card slot allows expansion up to 64 gigabytes of card storage. Applications can be installed either to the 512 MB internal flash memory, of which 190 MB are available for that purpose, or to the microSD card.

Physical Dimensions Vs iPhone and Motorola Droid

So we all can agree that the phone looks sexy, but how can I explain the way it feels in your hands? As soon as you pick it up, the first thing you’ll notice is how slim it feels. Although it’s only slightly thinner then the iPhone (11.5mm vs. 12.3mm), it truly feels like it’s half the size. It’s amazing to know that it’s really not, but it may have a lot to do with the coating of the phone. The back and sides of the phone are coated in Teflon, and feels almost rubbery. It’s very difficult to explain, but whatever it is they nailed it. It’s hard, but almost feels soft to the touch.

MASMIRA IDRIS
2009203608