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Nexus One is not the Google Phone

December 13th, 2009 14:01 UTC ·

UPDATE: I’m a regular reader of the Boy Genius Report, but I fail to see what ‘Arrington nailed’ on this subject. The 2007 ‘Google Phone’ was, and is, Android. The 2009 ‘Google Phone’ passed out by Google appears to be a dev phone – there’s no indication that it’s a VoIP data-only phone, and whether NYT’s reporting about a phone available direct from Google pans out remains to be seen.

Also, what is that ‘Android 2.1 HTC Tattoo Build’ in your stats, BG?

Original post:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google plans to sell an unlocked Android phone, the ‘Nexus One,” direct to consumers beginning in January. (The phone will also be available through Best Buy, and probably sold through either T-Mobile or AT&T as well.) For their sake, I hope this reporting isn’t based on anything from TechCrunch.

So, is the Nexus One the Google Phone that has been rumored for years? Not by a long shot. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

January 18, 2007:

I really have no idea whether or not this is legit, but if you’ll recall a month ago, I ran a piece claiming that Google, HTC and Orange had teamed up to release a phone upon Europe.

March 6, 2007:

The new device is said to be similar to a similar to a Blackberry in design. It will be coded on a C++ core with an OS bootstrap. Like the Sidekicks, Java will be optimized to run on the device. And it will include a multitude of services like G-Talk and such.

April 18, 2007:

Supposedly the phone will be manufactured by HTC (they make the Dash, among others), which will have more than one million Google Phones (GPhones?) by the end of the year . . . It’s said that the phone won’t support GPS, but will support EDGE (lame) and will integrate with Gmail and Google’s lovely search.

August 3, 2007:

Well the genie is pretty much out of the bottle, the cat is out of the bag and the news about a Google mobile phone is all but confirmed.

August 7, 2007:

word is coming down the grapevine that if or when the Google Phone launches, that the model will be similar. You’ll get free service on your handset, though it’ll be tinged with Google ads.

August 27, 2007:

A HTC insider sent us a tip this weekend about an upcoming gPhone coming out of Taiwan that should launch Q1 2008. Google is currently assessing over twenty HTC models and refining its final handset design and will create a special version of Google Maps, compatible with built-in GPS, and compatibility with Gmail and the calendar app.

August 30, 2007:

There is compelling evidence to suggest that Google is moving into the phone business.

September 3, 2007:

The phone will be based on a Linux platform with a UI written entirely in Java, but don’t expect anything fancy as it’s pretty ordinary. Some other functionality such as a browser similar to that of the iPhone, and some multimedia jazz are also expected. Supposedly the device is going to be manufactured by HTC and will look pretty damn similar to the Dash.

October 8, 2007:

The GPhone, it turns out, will be a Linux-based software suite that will be able to run other companies’ cellphones.

November 4, 2007:

So what can we expect from Google tomorrow? Will it just be an OS or will there be an actual gPhone?

Say it with me: “Android.”

Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we’re not announcing a Gphone. However, we think what we are announcing — the Open Handset Alliance and Android — is more significant and ambitious than a single phone.

We don’t hear anything about the “Google Phone” again until November 17, 2009:

Get ready for the Google Phone. It’s no longer a myth, it’s real.

Apparently, some people just don’t know how to quit a good rumor – reality just doesn’t have the emotional appeal, or the ad revenue, that baseless and breathless speculation has.

The next day:

The Google Phone may be a data only, VoIP driven device. And Google may be lining up at least AT&T to provide those data services for the Google Phone, says one person we spoke with today.

On December 11, Google passed out Android 2.1 phones to its employees for testing purposes:

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

nexusone
Image via Cory O’Brien.

December 12:

We don’t have much information on the Google Phone just yet. In fact, it sounds more like a party favor than anything else. However, if and when Google starts selling this thing, prepare for some of the strangest – and coolest – times in mobile we’ve ever experienced.

So how is this the ‘Google Phone’ – where’s the ad-supported free phone service? Please.

And all this time I thought Il Pendolo di Foucault was fiction. Well done, Sr. Eco – you’ve described the irresponsible rumor-mongering and goalpost-moving at a certain Crunchy group blog to a T.

NEQUAQUAM VACUUM, indeed.

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Tags: Android · Smartphones

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