Over the last couple days I have read quite a few reports and opinion pieces about Google and Nexus One. Everyone is really excited about the prospect of Google selling it’s own branded phone, using it’s own website, supporting it all by it’s lonesome. Some are excited in a positive way, others are excited in a negative way. Most of the negative opinions point out that if Google starts to offer it’s own handset, they’ll be competing with companies they are trying to bond with. Maybe have the opinion that Google wouldn’t and/or shouldn’t sell a phone directly, as that would be counter to the whole open handset alliance mentality. Well, Google would because Google does.
Purchasing an Unlocked Android powered phone from Google directly can already be done. I can purchase two phones through Google, unlocked and carrier free. The “G1″ for $399.99 and the “myTouch 3G” for $399.99. True, in order to do so, I have to be a registered developer. That cost? A one time cost of $25. So, in essence for around $425 I can buy one of these unlocked Android powered phones from Google. Of course, both of these phones are built by HTC, but so is the Nexus One. We hear that Google had it’s hand in much of the design of Nexus One, which we also heard about the G1. Now on the Android developer website, the phones they sell you aren’t called “G1″ or “myTouch 3G”, instead they sell you what they label Android Dev Phone 1 and Android Dev Phone 2. Could Nexus One simple be something along the lines of Android Dev Phone 3? So, I don’t think it’d be much of a stretch for Google to simply remove the extra step of registering as a developer and go direct to public with an HTC built, unlocked, carrier free phone.
