Google’s Nexus One smartphone, not smart enough for Australian networks

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Nexus One is not fully functional with Telstra’s Next G (3G) network. This is a large blow in comparison to the accessibility of the iPhone in Australia and on the international level. Brightlabs looks at the new Google phone and its future in Australia.

Google began testing the Nexus One by handing it out to all its employees to get a feel to how they would react. The release of the phone has been in only four countries, and Australia is not one of them. The gradual release of the Nexus One may not have been the best marketing policy, but it appears that Google’s superphone still has some time to wow the rest of the world.

“Sorry, the Nexus One phone is not available in your country”

Could this prohibitive market prove a stumbling block for the Google Nexus One, particularly as we live in a country where it is unavailable? From the Nexus One [help forums], “The Nexus One is launched in the US [United States] and will ship to the UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore as test countries.” The main reason that has been provided, so far, is that the Nexus One is not fully functional with Telstra’s Next G (3G) network, even though the phone should operate on most GSM networks. This is a large blow in comparison to the accessibility of the iPhone in Australia and on an international level.

Although coverage exists for full support in Australian capital cities, once a user of the Nexus One moves out of this range it will revert to a non-3G network. This could be the reason that Google is hesitant to release the phone here; while it appears that Google wishes to roll out the phone as fast as possible they are not revealing the release dates for remaining countries or to potential customers.

However, it appears that Google does have the consumer in mind by not wanting the Nexus One to be hampered by excessive import regulations making the phone prohibitively expensive; a step in the right direction even if it is clouded by the phone not being available in Australia, currently.

The Nexus One - a bit about the phone

The Nexus one is made by Taiwan’s HTC and runs the latest version of Google’s Android operating system. The phone itself will only be sold through the Google web store, but a customer may choose from a number of plans with T-Mobile (the only carrier, presently) available through the Google web store. Enticingly the Nexus One is sold as an ‘unlocked phone’ (the potential for it to be used with any SIM card and provider) on the Google web store and not through the mass of available providers. This limited sale through the Google web store is a move away from normal cellular phone marketing where providers such as Vodafone or 3 would sell the phone through their plans and apply their own branding to the phone.

Google’s Nexus One has an interesting name, providing images of a futuristic, primary, superphone - but what does it really offer?

• A big change from the iPhone’s 3 megapixel camera is the Nexus One’s large 5 megapixel camera, a must for social engagements, events, and the subsequent uploading to social media.

• The Nexus One comes with a base 4 GB internal storage and supports expandable MicroSD card memory to 32 GB—putting it on par with the highest storage capacity iPhone available, at present.


• An important feature, for customers, is the fact that the Nexus One can multi-task programs (something the iPhone cannot currently do) and is sold unlocked for $US529 ($580AUD approx), a small amount when you think about the ability to customise and control the phone—without locked and branded provider programs.


• A very interesting addition to phone is Google Goggles (also available for Android devices running Android 1.6 and above), which allows you to use pictures to search the web: take a picture to find internet search matches after Google analyses the image, or find out what businesses are nearby simply take a picture of the store and hey presto Google analyses it for you—this, however, is in continued development, but is sure to be a handy application.

Bad Apples, and Sluggish Sales

Apple and Google are starting to bash heads over trademarks and software usability; namely multi-touch support. This is due to Google rolling out a software update, which supports multi-touch pinch-to-zoom on the Nexus One as well as other Android phones—multi-touch and pinch-to-zoom functionality has just been applied to the Browser, Gallery, and Google Maps. Multi-touch functionality on Android phones has been available on third-party software, but up until now has not been available on Google made applications. Apple has been holding tightly onto this multi-touch IP, for a while, but may begin to take action against companies using it in the not too distant future, especially now that they can feel Google start to encroach on what Apple believed was their territory.

Unfortunately, IP fighting and mud flinging aside, the Nexus One has started with sluggish sales, since its release on 5th January 2010. However, the release of the Nexus One has only been in four countries so far (and no timeline for further release), in comparison to the international release of the iPhone. In this way, it is not hard to see why the iPhone dominated (and continues to dominate) the market and the Nexus One is lagging behind. Another hindering factor for sales could be the sole sale of the phone over the web, exclusively. This, however, is an experiment for Google and a move into new marketing territory that has not been tried before with mobile devices.

What’s in the works for the future

Google is aiming to break down communication barriers even further, within the next few years, by working on voice translation software for phones. The aim is to combine two existing technologies: an automatic system that translates text on computers and a voice recognition system that enables phone users to conduct search queries via spoken commands into their phone. These two technologies will be integrated together to produce software that is capable of understanding a caller’s voice and then translating it into a synthetic, foreign language copy almost instantly. This translation ability along with the further development of Google Goggles could make language issues a thing of the past while travelling: for example, no more struggling with Parisian Metro system names and destinations, just take a picture of the subway map and let it be translated before your eyes! Such technologies working together might entice some people to travel, where previously they have had fears of the language barrier hindering their holiday.

The Final Word

The Nexus One has returned solid reviews from the tech market and analysts; it is the most advanced Android-powered phone currently on the market not to mention the first Android phone to carry the official Google brand. The Nexus One seems to be constantly updating and it could put pressure on the iPhone once Google opens it up to the world market. However, it appears there is only a small window for Google to do this, if it takes too long the iPhone may not be dethroned. In the end, maybe Google is not aiming to dethrone the iPhone, maybe they are just providing another option for those of us that want something different.