The Google Nexus One smartphone, based on Google's Android
operating system, is getting fans in high-profile tech places even as it
battles a reputation for poor 3G service.
Linus
Torvalds, the man who created the Linux operating system on which Android
is based, purchased a Nexus One and spoke favorably about it in a blog post
Feb. 6.
Google launched the Nexus One from its Webstore Jan. 5, offering it for $529 unlocked or $179 with
a two-year contract from T-Mobile. When users have 3G service, they generally report
great things about the Nexus One, based on the latest Android 2.1 OS and which runs
a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm.
Torvalds said he "generally hates phones because they are irritating
and disturb you as you work or read or whatever," but is intrigued by Linux-based phones, such as the Nexus One:
"I have to admit, the Nexus One is a winner. I wasn't enthusiastic
about buying a phone on the Internet sight unseen, but the day it was reported
that it finally had the pinch-to-zoom thing enabled, I decided to take the
plunge. I've wanted to have a GPS unit for
my car anyway, and I thought that Google navigation might finally make a phone
useful.
"And it does. What a difference! I no longer feel like I'm dragging a
phone with me 'just in case' I would need to get in touch with somebody—now I'm
having a useful (and admittedly pretty good-looking) gadget instead ..."
The Google navigation Torvalds enjoys is the Google Maps Navigation turn-by-turn GPS feature so many users
have found useful since it launched on the Motorola Droid in November. That's
the type of perk Google hopes will help differentiate Android from Apple's
iPhone and other platforms. Nokia later countered with it own free GPS tool.
Torvalds said he received the original G1 Android phone when Google and T-Mobile launched it in 2008 but used it mostly
for playing games such as Galaga and Solitaire on long flights.
Torvalds isn't the only high-tech luminary to become enamored of the device.
Publisher Tim O'Reilly, whose Web 2.0 Summit is the hottest high-tech show that
isn't the Consumer Electronics Show, enjoys many of the features.
But the Nexus One has its issues, particularly with regard to spotty or absent 3G service.
Some of this is attributed to T-Mobile, whose wireless network ranks fourth
in the United States
behind Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint, and some of this is due to a
software flaw Google moved to fix Feb. 2.
Mobile device expert Kevin Tofel, who blogged
about a possible 3G remedy Jan. 19, said Feb. 6 that he is still having major 3G service issues.
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Enterprise Mobility News & Reviews 
