GOOGLES SUPERPHONE

Google's much hyped Nexus One 'superphone' finally went on sale in Australia today with Vodafone Hutchison Australia snapping up the exclusive online rights to sell the handset.

Named after the Blade Runner film, the Nexus One will be available on a “first-come, first-served” exclusively through VHA's website for $0 on a $79 cap over 24 months.

The Nexus One is a Google-branded handset created in partnership with Taiwanese manufacturer HTC to showcase the Android eco-system, but its release has been overshadowed by flood of other high performance Android phones such as the HTC Desire.

Google closed down its US online store in May created for the smartphone after failing to market the device via the web, leaving analysts and technology bloggers questioning whether this might signal the end of the Nexus One.

In spite of this, Google last week released figures that revealed its Android operating system was winning ground from the likes Apple and Microsoft, with 160,000 new Android handsets being activated every day around the world, and over 65,000 apps now available to download from its market.

The Nexus One runs on version 2.1 of Android which is voice enabled and includes Google maps, interactive wallpapers, and enhanced social networking switching capabilities.

The phone was originally branded a 'superphone' by Google because it has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and it also boasts a 3.7" AMOLED display and 5 megapixel auto focus camera with flash and geo tagging.

The handset is also expected to be the first phone to get the Android 2.2 (Froyo) update when it is launched.

VHA also announced today it would increase monthly mobile data allowance across most of its Vodafone and 3 contract plans with “anywhere from double to ten times the current data allocation, depending on the plan,” it said.

“It's great to be delivering even more value at a time when prices continue to rise on most other everyday items,” said John Casey, director of marketing.

Coinciding the with VHA announcement, Telstra cut the price of caps on its HTC Desire to $49 and $79, and increased the download limits to 200MB and 500MB respectively.
sumber:kompas.com