Google Nexus One Reviewed, Android Tablet on Tap

News Analysis: Not only is the world privy to the Google Nexus One smartphone's specifications, go-to-market strategy and pricing details, but Engadget has snagged a Nexus One and published a detailed review of the device.

Engadget's Joshua Topolsky chronicled his unboxing of the device and confirmed much of what has already been reported. The Nexus One runs Android 2.1 on a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU—hence, the gadget's blazing performance. The screen is Motorola Droid-like, boasting a 3.7-inch, 480-by-800 display. The camera is 5 megapixels with LED flash. There is a light sensor, proximity sensor and accelerometer.

There has been talk and some demonstrations about the snazzy new user interface and wallpaper Google has applied to the phone's deck.

Topolsky demonstrates this to the fullest, showing how a Milky Way-like wallpaper swirls by itself and reacts to swipes on the touch screen. From there, he shows off a new weather and news widget; jumps from any one of five screens (also new) to the next by pressing and holding down a button on the touch screen; and scrolls through the new icon menu.

"The phone is—definitely lives up to the hype of everybody talking about how fast it is," Topolsky said in his demo video. "Everything seems generally a bit faster on the phone."

However, he also classifies most of the UI changes as "pretty minor." Moreover, no multitouch functionality is included with the phone, though developers can add this for Android 2.0 devices and up.

This review of the Nexus One came Jan. 2, just days before Google is expected to unveil the same erstwhile challenger to Apple's iPhone in a press event Jan. 5 at the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.

The kicker about this device is that while Google employees and other lookers-on raved about the device in the early going, Engadget offers a sober recount of the smartphone's features and functionality that brings it right back down to normal phone status. The final tally is that the Nexus One is no iPhone killer.

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