Nexus vs iPhone: How they compare
Google last night unveiled a hi-tech mobile phone to take on its rival Apple.
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Review: Google has unveiled its iPhone rival the Nexus One |
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The Nexus One – which will go up against the hugely popular iPhone – was unveiled at the internet search engine’s Silicon Valley headquarters, better known as the ‘Googleplex’.
Shrouded in secrecy for months, the device is Google’s first phone designed by the company’s own engineers.
Its launch, coupled with the launch of an internet store for customers to purchase the phone, is likely to prompt an explosive marketing battle between Google and Apple for supremacy.
– Find out what the experts think in our round up of iphone vs Nexus One reviews
Rumours about the launch of the device – described as the ‘iPhone killer’ – have already sparked an online frenzy. Searches for Nexus One on – you guessed it – Google have soared by more than 5,000% in the past week.
Like its bestselling rival, the sleek device is controlled via a touchscreen – slightly larger than that on the iPhone — and features buttons and a small trackball for scrolling through emails and web pages.
It also boasts a high-resolution camera, a device for finding the user’s location by satellite (known as GPS), and a faster processor than the iPhone – which means it will be quicker to browse the internet. Among its more flashy gimmicks are a voice-enabled keyboard that allows users to dictate a message or email without so much as touching a key.
The phone also has a small space on the back where users can personalise it with a laser engraving. A weather ‘widget’ (a way of displaying information on the screen), offers a ‘very Googly way’ of checking the weather, said the man from Google.
He demonstrated how, using GPS, it gave an instant weather reading for the location, complete with minute-by-minute adjustments. Unlike the iPhone, Google will sell the handset unlocked, so it can be used on any network. Its store, www.google.com/phones, opened last night, including to British customers.
The phone costs $529 (£331). U.S. customers can also buy it with a two-year contract from T-Mobile U.S.A., but British customers will have to wait until the spring to be able to buy it with a package with Vodafone.
The iPhone, in contrast, will be available on three networks by that time. Until yesterday Google had remained tight-lipped about the Taiwanese-manufactured phone, but photographs and reviews appeared online after handsets were given to Google staff for testing. Reviews have been varied.
It is thinner and lighter than Apple’s iPhone and fans have praised its camera. which unlike its rival boasts a flash and also features mechanical autofocus. However, the Google phone currently only offers 18,000 applications, compared with the iPhone’s more than 100,000.
Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with research firm Gartner, said one of its main selling points was that it would be available from Google itself, allowing users to decide which network they want to sign up with.
While Google may be best known for its computer search engine, it has been steadily expanding into other areas including email, maps and video.
The company, founded by two American students in 1998, launched a mobile phone operating system named Android in 2007. Until now that software has only been rolled out on phones manufactured by other companies.
iPhone
PRICE: From free to £279, depending on contract. £549 on pay as you go.
CAMERA: 3 megapixel
PROCESSOR SPEED: 1GHz
MEMORY: 16GB or 32GB
APPLICATIONS: More than 100,000
NETWORKS: O2, Orange, Vodafone
Nexus One
PRICE: $529 (£331), or $179 (£112) on U.S. contract. Available in UK from spring.
CAMERA: 5 megapixel
PROCESSOR SPEED: 1GHz
MEMORY: 4GB, expandable to 32GB
APPLICATIONS: 18,000
NETWORK: Vodafone in UK
Lori Cain is a residential Realtor with Chinowth & Cohen Realtors serving the greater Tulsa Oklahoma area, including midtown Tulsa, Owasso, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Sand Springs and Jenks. Please visit Lori’s web site, LoriCain.com or call 918-852-5036.
