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With any big Google news announcement, there is a glut of media coverage dissecting today’s formal unveiling of the Google Nexus One smartphone.
I covered the launch event on eWEEK here, and my colleague Chris Preimesberger attended and took pictures here.
Additionally, several leading high-tech thinkers have written comprehensive reviews of the device, which they kept under wraps until today.
Below is a summary of the best reviews I had the chance to read in the wake of the launch. But first, check out the phone yourself in this video run-through:
As far as the reviews go, if you’re a regular reader of the gadget and top tech blogs, you know what to expect.
Let’s start with the Wall Street Journal wizard Walt Mossberg,, who really drills down into what he prefers and dislikes about the Nexus One versus Apple’s iPhone and RIM Blackberry devices before concluding:
“The iPhone is still a better apps platform. Not only are there more apps, but, in my experience, iPhone apps are generally more polished and come in more varieties. But, with its fresh phone and bold business model, Google is taking Android to a new level, and that should ramp up the competition in the super-smartphone space. — Google’s Nexus One Is Bold New Face in Super-Smartphones.
Michael Arrington of TechCrunch raves about the Nexus One, which he has been using for weeks:
This is the best Android-powered phone to date. It’s also the fastest and most elegant smartphone on the market today, solidly beating the iPhone in most ways. In this rapidly evolving market there is sure to be something better just around the corner. But if you are looking to buy a high end smartphone right now, this is the phone for you. The Nexus One is the Android signature device. — Google Nexus One: The TechCrunch Review.
Om Malik from GigaOm: said he switched to T-Mobile just to use the Nexus One, and finds it lacking in usability and extensibility versus the iPhone. However, he noted:
From a purely design standpoint, the Nexus One is within striking distance of its primary rival, the iPhone. Just as Infiniti and Lexus are almost as good as Mercedes, based on sheer looks, the Nexus One is a lot closer to the iPhone than all other Android phones. While it isn’t as iconic as the Apple device, it is a well-designed, feature-rich product that stands apart in a sea of Android handsets. — Nexus One: The Best Android Phone Yet.
David Pogue, New York Times, argues that the Nexus One go-to-market model is not as unique as it’s being made out to be:
The idea of the Google phone store is pure, giddy idealism: You’ll buy the phone you want, then you’ll shop for the cell plan you want, from the carrier you want. No more “You want an iPhone? Then you get AT&T.” Well, it’s about time! Rise up in the streets! Power to the people! Truth shall triumph! Or not. I mean, it’s a great idea and all. It’s just that, well, apart from the iPhone, who really cares which carrier has a certain phone? In the list of complaints about American cellphone carriers sent to me by readers, that one is waaaaaay down the list. — Google Phone Is a Worthy Rival but Not Revolutionary.
Joshua Topolsky from Engadget offered the first in-depth look at the phone It is my favorite, trumping even Mossberg’s in detail, which is what counts here:
When you first lay eyes on the Nexus One, you can almost hear someone at Google say something like, “Make us something as sexy as the iPhone, but let’s not forget what got us here” — “what got us here” being the G1, which Google worked tightly with HTC to create. Whether you love or hate the iPhone, it’s hard to deny its obvious physical attractiveness, and it’s clear that Google and HTC made strides to bring an Android handset into the same realm of base desirability that Apple’s halo device occupies. For the most part, they’ve succeeded. — Nexus One review.
Thankfully, someone is policing the lunatics in this high-tech asylum. That duty apparently fell to ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall Kirkpatrick, who wonders how many journalists who received free Nexus One devices are claiming them as such in their reviews and commentaries about the device:
“The Google Nexus One mobile phone was unveiled this afternoon and all the members of the press who were on-site for the announcements received free phones from Google. This is the most-anticipated phone to hit the market in years. It’s like a unicorn sparkling with magic, perhaps. Almost no one at all has disclosed getting a free unit in writing their reviews.“
There are, of course, plenty to read on TechMeme here.
What do you like, dislike about the Nexus One so far?