Google Nexus One is manufactured by HTC and is currently available only in U.S., the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong exclusively through Google’s Online Store. However, it looks like Google is now planning to make Nexus One available through select retailers globally.

Google seems to have realized that consumers want to touch, feel and experience the Nexus One instead of just seeing online demos.

Google was offering forum and email support up until now. Google finally realized that approach only goes so far.

“By design, we focused initially on providing the best possible customer support through our on-line channel, and our experience in the four weeks since the Nexus One launch enabled us to significantly enhance that on-line support offering. We have been able to address a large majority of customers’ inquiries successfully through on-line support, in combination with phone support from our partners, HTC and T-Mobile,” a Google spokesperson said. “That said, our approach with our new consumer channel is to learn fast and continue to improve…Live phone support from Google, combined with an optimized on-line support experience, enables a superior Nexus One customer experience.”

Here is my response after I watched their product movie and then saw a video on the Courier:

Once again MS makes something that appears to be something I can actually use. I could imagine a lot of productive uses for this (thing school). I am sure that the iPad does some of this, but it’s not featured. Apple features looking at pictures, checking email, and browsing the web. This thing has a pen, so it matches what I do now. I go in to discovery meetings with a book (just happens to be my Journal), and I pull out a pen and I start taking notes. That’s how I do it. Do you know how awkward it is to use a keyboard for that? I don’t care how small and light it is. Plus since the iPad does not have a full sized keyboard, you have to hunt-n-peck to type (in the video they show hands typing ion an advanced form of hunt-n-peck where multiple fingers are used, but he’s not typing typing.

I’m not trying to hate on Apple… but I guess I am, because I hate they way the talk.

Apple is worthless to me. In their video they talk about it being the best way to check email (?!), the best way to surf the web (!?!!?), the best way to watch movies (!!????!?). The best way to look at your photos (maybe). Let me decide the best way for me to browse the web (I like opera), and watch movies (Cinemark is cool), and look at photo’s (I like to sit in a circle with family and pass actually smelly photographs around – old school I know but that’s what I like). If your product is real, you don’t have to tell me what’s best, just tell me how it works. I can decide if it’s best for me. And dude said the reason it’s the best way to browse the web is because, “it just feels right… to hold the internet in your hands” What did they drug him up with?! I can’t imagine the small fraction of humans who have openly expressed “I wish I could just hold the internet in my hands.”

They say because you can hold the device at any orientation, that you don’t have to change to adapt to the device, it adapts to you… so instead of me having to stand on my head, the device flips the screen. Thanks apple! Truth is adapting to a person means more than screen orientation. For instance how does the hunt-n-peck keyboard adapt to me? Where’s my stylus? I don’t look at pictures all day? So then, who’s going to have to do the adapting?

Finally, this opening quote (an attempt to be deep) is just plain stupid:

“when something exceeds your ability to understand how it works, it sort of becomes magical…”

That crap is historically a lie. When humans don’t understand things, they figure it out. Now, when mindless dotes don’t understand, they call it magic. And are then ridiculed by more advanced civilizations. I imagine that Apple will let out a nice belly laugh every time one of these are sold, “HA! They think it’s magical!!”

Is it me, or does he look crazy – like he’s holding a huge cell phone and saying, look at my huge cell phone! It’s awesome!

No Multitasking
This is a backbreaker. If this is supposed to be a replacement for netbooks, how can it possibly not have multitasking? Are you saying I can’t listen to Pandora while writing a document? I can’t have my Twitter app open at the same time as my browser? I can’t have AIM open at the same time as my email? Are you kidding me? This alone guarantees that I will not buy this product.

No Cameras
No front facing camera is one thing. But no back facing camera either? Why the hell not? I can’t imagine what the downside was for including at least one camera. Could this thing not handle video iChat?

Touch Keyboard
So much for Apple revolutionizing tablet inputs; this is the same big, ugly touchscreen keyboard we’ve seen on other tablets, and unless you’re lying on the couch with your knees propping it up, it’ll be awkward to use.

No HDMI Out
Want to watch those nice HD videos you downloaded from iTunes on your TV? Too damned bad! If you were truly loyal, you’d just buy an AppleTV already.

The Name iPad
Get ready for Maxi pad jokes, and lots of ‘em!

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Movies have been showing things like the iPad for years and it seems like a natural progression for computers. I’ve been sick of real keyboards for years. So even though I’m not really into the new Apple iPad, it’s a tad interesting. We will have to wait and see what happens with it. I’d rather see something like this in a desktop form.

So is the iPad just a big iPhone? To me it looks that way. For it to be really useful it would need to be the full OSX operating system. I don’t want a device like this only to be stuck in a small word of apps from the app store. I don’t care if there are thousands of apps there, I want to be able to run programs just like on a traditional system.

Heroes makes it a point to show us iPhones and Nissan SUVs. I don’t mind the product placement that much, but sometimes is super obvious and the shot is too long fixed on whatever product made its way into the show. This product placement of the Google Nexus One was kind of annoying. We didn’t need a close-up of a cell phone screen in the night time lighting. We just needed to see that the character pulled out a phone and dialed it. No need to show the screen on a camera mounted to the best of tripods. But then if we didn’t get that shot, NBC would have lost out on some serious cash.

Cyanogen, a  hacker in the Android community, released a modified version of the Android 2.1 OS that enables multitouch features for the Nexus One phone. The hack enables multitouch in the native Web browser only, but Cyanogen said he would be adding this functionality to other apps soon as well.

It’s not exactly clear why the Google Nexus One does not feature multitouch capabilities.  Some believe it’s because of Apple and patents to the technology. No one seems to actually have an answer.

In comparison to the Apple iPhone, the Nexus One is noticeably missing multitouch features such as pinch-to-zoom in the Web browser or Maps and for the software keyboard. However, the multitouch hack for the Nexus one enables pinch-to-zoom in the browser and paves the way for gesture use in other apps as well.

The software hack to enable multitouch on the Nexus One can be downloaded from here, and install instructions are here. Before you start, Cyanogen warns that you will lose your bookmarks and browser settings, so it would be a good idea to back up first. As a little reminder, hacking your phone might result in voiding your warranty.

Read the full article testing Google Nexus One vs iPhone Touchscreen

Google Maps Navigation uses your phone’s internet connection to give you the latest maps and business data. But that’s not all that’s different about Google’s approach to GPS navigation. Watch the below video to learn more.

Google is working with Apple on putting its free navigation service inside the iPhone’s Maps program. Meanwhile, vendors of dedicated personal navigation devices (PND) are torn between running scared and switching their devices to Android 2.0 that has Google Maps Navigation built-in.

Google stunned the tech world Wednesday by announcing Google Maps Navigation, an Internet-connected GPS navigation system that provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps on Android 2.0 devices. Shares of Garmin and TomTom fell around 20 percent following the news. Motorola’s Droid, due next Friday, is the first Android 2.0 device to offer a beta version of Google Maps Navigation as the killer feature. When asked about iPhone version, a Google spokesperson told AppleInsider Wednesday that it’s up to Apple:

Apple is a close partner. Millions of users experience Google Maps on the iPhone. We will continue to work with Apple to bring innovation, including Latitude and Navigation, to users but you’ll have to speak to Apple about availability.

Navigation software and maps with PND vendors don’t come cheap.

Google Maps manager Michael Silinski told Pocketlint that the iPhone 3GS has the needed graphics power to run Google Maps Navigation, at least theoretically. PND vendors could also “go Google.”

The arrival of Google Maps Navigation caught most vendors of personal navigation devices on the wrong foot. Even though PNDs have better hardware, a longer-lasting battery, and a stronger GPS circuitry, their software sucks and maps don’t come cheap.

In fact, users are required to purchase maps and map updates separately or pay monthly usage fees. Although Google Maps Navigation won’t kill PNDs, some PND vendors are considering switching to Android 2.0 so they too could offer Google’s free cloud-based navigation technology.

Cnet noted that most PND vendors view Google as a threat to their subscription-based business model. Users typically pay between $5 and $10 in monthly subscription fees to use navigation on mobile phones. Google’s free offering, noted Forbes, is a threat.

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