Nexus One Google Phone

The Google Nexus One has confused many people with the lack of multi-touch in the OS. We know that Android is capable of multi-touch functionality, so why isn’t it there? Regardless of the answer to that question  the open nature of the Android ope rating system allowed a hacker to enable multitouch capabilities on Google’s Nexus One phone.

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.

According to reports only 20,000 Google Nexus One phones were sold in its first week of sales, according to sales estimates from market research firm Flurry. In comparison to its Android sibling the numbers are 12 times lower than for the Motorola Droid and 80 times lower than for the iPhone 3GS.

The Nexus One didn’t benefit from such a strong marketing push like the Motorola Droid (estimated $100 million), despite Google’s phone featuring so-far unique Android features. This has reflected in poor first week sales for the Nexus One.

It’s here the Nexus One Google Phone has made it. You can buy it directly from google at this location: http://www.google.com/phone

Why is the Nexus One so cool?

The Nexus One google phone is so cool because it’s from Google. Let’s face it. Google is awesome. They make really useful tools and make them well.  It’s really an interesting thing for them to be going into the hardware business. It makes a lot of sense though. This new phone is really going to change the game. iPhone has ruled for a while now and it’s my opinion that they need to just give it up. The iPhone is cool.. But it stinks in a lot of ways. I won’t go into detail right now though.

Lets focus on the Nexus One phone a little.

Finally we have a great phone with a great operating system and we don’t have to be tied to one carrier.  Right now you can get a contract with T-mobile and pay $179 for the Nexus One with a 2 year contract. If you want to buy the phone and use it on a different carrier it will cost you $529. In the Spring of 2010 Verizon will be supporting the Nexus One along with its already carried Droid which also runs the Android operating system from Google. The phone is also rumored to support other carriers.

One thing the Nexus One and other non iPhones have against them is the iTunes store which is pretty simple to use and has just about everything on it. I’m in the near future we will be seeing something very similar to it on the Google Nexus One phone.