Google's Nexus One phone will have everything from a magnetic compass to Wi-Fi and a noise-cancellation chipset. The HTC-manufacturerd Nexus One will also have an exchangeable battery. How do we think we know?
Well, for starters, he team behind tech blog These Are The Droids appears to have gotten hold of the read-only memory (ROM) from Google's Android 2.1 and is now in the process of leaking all of the Nexus One's technical hardware specs.
According to These Are the Droids, the Nexus One will also include an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and light sensor, Wi-Fi radio with Bluetooth, an FM speaker, the ability to support an auto-focus camera, and Open GL ES 2.0 capable graphics. The blog's most recent update, posted Tuesday, also suggest a Snapdragon processor.
If These Are The Droids' reading is accurate, that last tidbit of information is a doozy. The Snapdragon processor, from Qualcomm, has been clocked at speeds of more than 1 GHz, meaning serious juice for a smartphone and much faster processing power than any Android phone on the market right now, including the Motorola Droid.
Google's Nexus One phone has been the subject of much speculation since last weekend, when Google more or less confirmed the existence of the the long-rumored Google phone in a blog post.
Federal Communications Commission documents on Nexus One released on Monday indicated that the HTC-made Nexus One has been tested for T-Mobile's 3G network, suggesting that the Google phone would not be sold "unlocked" from carriers so much as become a new showpiece phone for T-Mobile.
A report from Reuters on Tuesday, however, quoted a source close to the matter as saying that two versions of the phone are being prepared: an unlocked version and a version that will begin on T-Mobile and be offered to other carriers, too. Reuters' source also said the Nexus One will have a larger touchscreen than Apple's iPhone and have an exchangeable battery, as well as the option to add a memory card to the Nexus One.
It's helpful to remember, of course, that Google has confirmed nothing beyond what it wrote in that blog. But everything we've learned -- or think we've learned -- about the Nexus One phone so far makes sense, and it's right in line with Google's strategies for communications and consumer engagement.
