Product Listing

Google Nexus One - Center of Attention

By Seow Tein Hee - 29 Jan 2010

Conclusion

Debuting the new Android

The dust has settled, and it can be said that the Android OS is now finally a force to be reckoned with. That's what the Google Nexus One represents for the company - a superphone (as dubbed by them) that will shake up the mobile scene.

The Nexus One isn't just a device that's just rich on the geek factor. Aesthetics is still one of the primary focus areas, and this is evident with its sleek and thin form factor. Weighing in at 130g, the Nexus One is easy on the hands and is a comfortable fit too. The minimalist design is evident with limited physical buttons such as the volume and power buttons on the Nexus One. The bulk of its interaction lies within the 3.7-inch touch screen, which also includes the four touch-sensitive user buttons for Back, Menu, Home and Search. These four buttons tend to give larger fingers a bit of a headache, but with a little bit of practice, you'll get used to it.

Looking past the hardware aspects, the Nexus One's biggest draw comes from its software. We've seen the evolution of Google's Android through the numbers, and the code names. Obviously, the company would save its most updated OS for its own model, hence you have Android 2.1 (Eclair) on the Nexus One. Whilst the interface sticks to its original 4 x 4 grid for its home screen, you'll notice a major aesthetic overhaul with its icons and interface. Instead of the usual three pages on its earlier versions, the Nexus One offers up to five pages to load your apps and widgets. New fangled features such as animated wallpapers that interact to your touch are mostly cosmetic.

Perhaps the most iconic change in the Nexus One from all its other Android siblings is the Car Home dashboard, which is also featured on the Motorola Milestone. Designed for on-the-road navigation, the interface is supposed to provide easy access to the turn-by-turn navigation on the Nexus One's Google Maps. Sadly, this won't be implemented outside of the United States anytime soon.

Whilst the Nexus One and Android 2.1 aptly dives into the Facebook social network, we find this to be an untapped potential. Seeing how other Android devices such as the Motorola DEXT and its MOTOBLUR service manages to integrate major social networking sites together, it's no longer a question of who churns out the latest OS or the most advanced mobile technology; it's the one who delivers the best user experience, both hardware and software, that makes the grade.

After a year out there, Google's Android OS is now ready for the big boys. The Google Nexus One is just the first step, and could be the herald of more Google superphones to come in the months ahead.

But do not dismiss the importance of the hardware specifications. We've experienced one of the smoothest and most fluid interfaces with the Nexus One, and this is mostly attributed to the fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor. Still, the occasional crashes are present on the Nexus One, more so for apps that might not have been designed for the latest Android 2.1 platform. Hopefully these little niggling matters would get resolved as the device and OS matures.

Throw in a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen with WVGA resolutions, and you have a decent video player on the Nexus One. In spite of the high speed processor which could see a huge power drain, the Nexus One proved to be resilient in our battery test. Daily usage is still a subjective matter, depending on one's usage pattern. On average, you won't get more than a day's mileage.

Should you wish to own the Nexus One, you can purchase it right off the Google Nexus One website and have it shipped over. Costing US$529 and calculating the shipping costs to Singapore and taxes involved, you'll be looking at a payment of S$870 for the Nexus One to reach your hands. We won't go so far as to say the Nexus One is an iPhone replacement; it's more like a change of flavor, plus a unique identity of a geek that walks on the path less trodden.

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