Google Nexus One Review

Filed under: Features, Hardware, Mobile, Android

Google first unveiled its Android operating system for smartphones in 2007. But the Google Nexus One, which was launched last month is the first phone with the Google name attached to the hardware. Google sells the phone through its web site and handles tech support for the smartphone, although mobile service is provided by T-Mobile (and soon Verizon) in the US.

The Nexus One has a faster processor than almost any phone on the market, which makes it incredibly responsive. And it runs Android 2.1, the latest version of Google's mobile operating system. Because this is the first true "Google phone," it's also likely that the Nexus One will be first in line for new over-the-air updates to the operating system and Google's mobile applications such as Google Maps and Google Calendar. Earlier this month Google released one of the first updates for the Nexus One, which made the phone one of the first Android-powered devices to support multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom.

I've been a fan of mobile computing ever since I first realized that you could use a handheld device to manage your calendar, read eBooks, and play video games. My first PDA was a short-lived Philips Nino 300 Windows CE device, and between 2000 and 2005, I purchased at least a dozen different PDAs and handheld PCs including the Compaq Aero 1550, and HP Jornada 720, before settling on a Dell Axim X50v running Windows Mobile 2003SE which I've used for the past 5 years.

The Axim is a great little PDA with a 624MHz CPU and a VGA display. But the OS is starting to show its age and can't run many recently launched mobile applications. And the version of Pocket Internet Explorer that came with Windows Mobile 2003SE is all-but-unusable. Overall, I'm starting to get tired of carrying around a 5-year-old device, even if it does many of the things I need a mobile device to do.

So when Google contacted Download Squad and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing one of the newest, most hyped smartphones around, I jumped at the chance. I've tested the phone for the last few weeks, and there are a lot of things to like -- and some room for improvement.

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Google Nexus One Review originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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