Its existence has already been discussed on Gumpdump Could the Google Nexus One challenge the iPhone but now its been launched and it looks great, the specs are brilliant.

Google Nexus One Full Specs

Android 2.1

3.7″ OLED Screen resolution 480×800

1Ghz Snapdragon processor

512Mb ROM and 512Mb of memory

4GB SD expandable to 32Gb (Currently)

5Mpix Camera with LED flash

Oh and its as thin as an iPhone!

Now I don’t know about you but if nothing else Apple are really going to have to up their game with the new iPhone that’s set to be launched in June. By comparison the current iPhone is beaten on just about every front bar the interface but the video on engadget certainly shows its potential power, the animated backgrounds certainly look nifty.

No word on when the Nexus One is out I will keep an eye out for the date and I expect it to be out on T-Mobile first, competition is great isn’t it.

And now Google has launched a website for the new phone about all of the features and loads of extra photos.

Full as yet confirmed specification list now available. Google Specs page

Size and weight

Height    119mm
Width    59.8mm
Depth    11.5mm
Weight
130 grams w/battery
100g w/o battery

Display

3.7-inch (diagonal) widescreen WVGA AMOLED touchscreen

800 x 480 pixels

100,000:1 typical contrast ratio

1ms typical response rate
Camera & Flash

5 megapixels

Autofocus from 6cm to infinity

2X digital zoom

LED flash

User can include location of photos from phone’s AGPS receiver

Video captured at 720×480 pixels at 20 frames per second or higher, depending on lighting conditions
Cellular & Wireless

UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900)

HSDPA 7.2Mbps

HSUPA 2Mbps

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)

Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

A2DP stereo Bluetooth

Power and battery

Removable 1400 mAH battery

Charges at 480mA from USB, at 980mA from supplied charger

Talk time
Up to 10 hours on 2G
Up to 7 hours on 3G
Standby time
Up to 290 hours on 2G Up to 250 hours on 3G
Internet use
Up to 5 hours on 3G
Up to 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback
Up to 7 hours
Audio playback
Up to 20 hours

Processor

Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz
Operating system

Android Mobile Technology Platform 2.1 (Eclair)
Capacity

512MB Flash

512MB RAM

4GB Micro SD Card (Expandable to 32 GB)
Location

Assisted global positioning system (AGPS) receiver

Cell tower and Wi-Fi positioning

Digital compass

Accelerometer

Image courtesy of Engaget.

Now this is going to be interesting. The Android OS is pretty good, allows for background tasks and is as easy to use (just) as the iPhone so could it challenge the iPhone.

Well the Nexus One pictured above seems to be a potential challenger  and could be coming as early is January 2010 . Some would say that will be the  first of its kind to really start to push Apple’s iPhone. Checking out the specs must have Apple a bit worried. Its going to have a nice quick processor, be thinner (yes thats a shock to me as well) and have a high resolution OLED screen.

The camera appears to be a none to shabby 5Mpix and also has a flash, looking good so far? yes I think so as well. Add to that a couple of microphones (one on the front the other on the back) to help with noise cancellation and even dictation to text and its looking even better. The proof will be in the pudding however but it looks like for the first time in a very long time there could be a phone that could genuinely (sorry I don’t count the Pre or Nokia’s frankly hard to use rivals) be able to challenge the all conquering  iPhone.

So then Apple, we need a better camera, an OLED screen with a higher resolution and the same fantastic usability oh and go on better battery life in the new phone please, over to you.

Well I have it by a reliable source that the tablet definitely exists and is going to be launched but I don’t know when. This was let slip via a senior exec involved in product development.

Set to be a 10.2” display and running iPhone OS not MAC OS. They need to be very careful on the price point as there is more and more competition in this sector including rival Tablet type designs.

When I can find out a bit more about it I will let you know, watch this space.

OK so they said they needed some time and don’t rush them to do the windows (Redsnow?) update. But come on its been weeks now. Maybe for the first time they can’t do it, or maybe they just don’t want to for some reason?

Either way for those that don’t actually want to install dodgy software but do want to unlock the phone from their current network, this is more than a bit of a pain. Just think of all that software that is coming out on 3.1 that some won’t be able to get.

Fingers crossed it won’t be long and they crack it sooner rather than later. If anyone knows anything about when it might be out then post away. Oh and yes I have seen that there are other methods and I could get a Mac, yes yes but i haven’t and so don’t most people so, pretty please sort it soon.

Update

Well the Dev team must have been listening, they have now released the update to allow a previously unlocked 3GS to be unlocked, but still only on a Mac with Pwnage. But there does seem to be good news for those of us who still use windows, yes it seems that the dev team are due to release the jailbreak tool around the 12th of October and its to be called SnOwBreeze.

Ok so I like my gadgets but in the past have been VERY anti iPhone. I mean its not small really, its battery life is terrible and the resolution of the screen is ok no better.

But I’ve got one now and oh my is it a fantastic device. As many annoyingly say ‘it just works’ well it does. Installing applications is childs play, browsing is a dream and setting up getting e-mail from just about anywhere is an absolute doddle.

If you want a good phone that you can play games on and the games are incredible and there are thousands of them so you aren’t going to get board anytime soon!

Yes the battery life isn’t great but you get used to just needing to charge it every night but then I do have wifi and bluetooth on all the time and they both get regular use. I’m not using it on 02 in the UK either I’ve jailbroken it to work on T-Mobile to which it does and everything still works.

The screen never appears to need a higher resolution either and the number of free applications that you can use to get the best out of the devices is just amazing, if you can’t find the app you need you aren’t searching for the right thing.

And when you do have 50 applications on the phone how do you update them? Well again thats easy, every time you go into the app store it checks all of your installed applications and then tells you which have updates. You click update date all and it just does it, no installing and downloading on a PC no hassle just easy.

I’m not going to rate it 10/10 because elements of it are a compromise. So I will give it 9/10.

Fingers crossed the camera improves as does the battery life, but other than these few things its an amazing device that deserves all of the plaudits that have been showed upon it.

I will post some application and game reviews in coming days and weeks.

On Monday Apple announce the upgrade of the current iPhone the 3GS, its not a major upgrade, no OLED screen, major increase in battery life or many of the numerous rumours that surrounded the announcement.

There was also no news on the iPhone Nano that many say is still in the wings, but maybe its not that far off. So every year in September Apple upgrade the iPod range with new models but it seems they might have a suprise in store, how do I know?

Well a friend that wants to get the new iPhone 3G S asked for his PAC code from Vodafone, they didn’t put up a fight and said fine we will send something through. But he got a call today to discuss another option, apparently Vodafone are in talks with Apple on a new un-announced phone that is set to launch in September. They said that talks are set to conclude in 60 days that may mean 02 loses its iPhone exclusivity deal and Vodafone along with all the other networks so O2 / Orange and T-Mobile might get the ‘New’ phone. For many a new phone available on not just 02 with be a massive change to the current deployment model, is 02’s exclusivity about to end.

So was this just to keep his business and delay moving off the network or was there some fact behind the information and we will indeed be sing another model being added to the iPhone line-up?

UPDATE

Well this was close but just not the Nano bit. It was confirmed today that Vodafone will be carrying the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Close but no cigar but either way the info on Voda announcing something was spot on. So a wait until January 2010 and we will have 3 operators offering the iPhone, may the prices reduce, everyone is a winner.

Well its been a while in coming and I was hoping to find loads of new and innovative applications on there, you know like the Apple store on the iPhone. Erm no, there was virtually nothing new and very little of it was free.

If you look on forums and sites regularly looking out for new applications for your 5800 then you will have or have seen most of what is on the Nokia store already. That is if you can cope with the fact that you need to register yourself (best done on a PC / Mac) and accept a load of warnings that you are going to download something and are you sure, this is almost as bad as using Vista.

Lets just say that I hope it improves in leaps and bounds because at the moment there isn’t much to make me visit it again and again. Maybe they need to add an app that can keep your password and make the whole experience that little bit more slick. I’d give it a 4/10 at the moment but surely things must improve rapidly. With Samsung and now SonyEricsson coming out with Symbian S60 Series 5 handsets the market is only set to grow, come on Nokia lets try and do something slick and user friendly hey.

Link – Nokia Ovi Store

A few weeks later than the unbranded phones but the Nokia 5800 on T-mobile has now got the V21 firmware. Can’t see that much different on the surface but it seems a fair bit has actually been fixed. I’ve not tried the bluetooth yet and if it works with my BMW, but I live in hope but not ‘that’ much hope.

A quick try of the browser it seems to be much quicker than before and everything is generally a bit more slick. No impovements to the camera yet unfortunately buts maybe on the next release.  There are new features like a breathing menu button to alert you of missed calls or a text. The partial list of the wait for it, 225 fixes are listed below.  Seems they are pushing to make S60 v5 as good as they can which can only be a good thing hey.

V21.0.025 Change Log

Following BUGS are fixed,
* Lock code does not work after FOTA update
* Logs: Info cannot be seen in missed calls if name includes special characters
* The envelope icon doesn’t open after reading the sms
* Autolock requested via MfE but not activated
* MPX harvester server crach with DRM files
* Oper. menu application icon missing after NSU update
* CDP Displays: CDP Clock and Data Have To Be Transmitted 2 Frames Before Sleep Out (SLPOUT 11h) Command
* “Program closed: Idle” after Restoring factory settings
* Video telephone: Phone reboots after tap call button several times when answer an incoming video call
* Music Player crashes when user tries to refresh Real audio into Music library
* Dialer: The cursor is not displayed in dialer panel
* Audio disappears after playing music long time with BT
* Music player the album art in Now Playing view is downscaled
* Access point password is not provisionable
* Voice commands application crashes after language change
* Synchronization cannot be done using PC Suite Sync application
* FL3.0: Inline Text editing from browser plugin is not successful
* Browser does not show some MIME-types of type image correctly
* Browser: Not possible to move the cursor when typing in a <textarea> field
* Browser: Page scroll wobbles if user scrolls with flash while page is in scroll motion
* Browser: Page does not scroll if drag is started from the edge of flash window
* Browser: Page scroll does not work after stopping going to new page opened via flash banner
* Bluetooth causing extra current consumption when activated
* Predictive search not working properly in country selection
* Music Player application crashes if album art is selected to be changed
* Duplicate contacts after restore
* Music Player: White screen displayed if change orientation between landscape and portable mode
* MO/MT calls will not work when restoring backup from old phone to more recent version

NEW FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS

* Notification Lights according to Nokia Design specification
* Touch usability improvements:
* Finger touch support for Special Character Table
* Size of arrows (tab pane & navi pane) in touch UI
* Arrows in forms, date & time selection, touch UI
* Profile, date area in touch UI
* Calendar Finger usability: change single row list items in day view wider

Why is it that the little things that you need to work on a phone don’t. Well guess what Symbian S60v5 is as bad as S60v3 in connecting to BMW bluetooth. After having maybe 10 Nokia’s I decided to get a Sony Ericsson because I’d read about problems with Nokia bluetooth when I got my new motor, yes a BMW.

Fast forward a few years and I see a nice new Nokia, this time the 5800 and I get it, but I forgot to check if it worked with my e90 BMW 3 series, the iDrive can see it but. Guess what, it doesn’t work……….

It connects sometimes for 10 minutes and then dies, or it might fail to connect the next time and it certainly won’t transfer the phone book to the car. I’ve tried everything to fix it, upgraded to the latest v20 firmware and I think things have got worse not better. Tried the Nokia phone book transfer software for the 810 and that doesn’t make any difference. Hidden, un-hidden to connections, remove all other connections, try it after the phone switches on the lot.

The Sony Ericsson k810i was faultless, it just worked, I could even get into the car after it was started with the phone and it paired, I could transfer calls whilst still active, easy peasy. But the Nokia 5800 S60v5 can’t do a thing right.

If anyone has a fix or any ideas what the problem is or if they have had any success please let me know. If it wasn’t for this problem it really is a great phone, one of the best I’ve had, good screen, battery life the lot, but BMW and Nokia bluetooth issues are taking the shine away…….

We all love technology, we like gadgets and we want the latest and greatest phones….. BUT we don’t like to wait for things. So why is it taking so long to get some good Android phones out?

There is an all new Apple iPhone or several of them if the reports are to be true but where are the rival Android handsets? Are they harder to develop, does the restriction on headphone sockets because of Apple patents cause a problem for some manufacturers or is it that they haven’t implemented multi touch and capacitive screens in development when it seems they will be all the rage. I don’t know but its taking far to long to get something out to rival the best phones.

Why can someone like HTC modify the excellent Touch HD to have Android than come out with still average HTC Magic thats really not that magic at all its more rabbit should have stayed in the hat. If the Android OS is to really make an impact it needs some good hardware, so where is it come on Sony Ericsson, Samsung and HTC to name three show us what you can do because what we have seen so far isn’t going to challenge the very best which they need to do if the project is going to be a success.

And lets face it if Nokia actually start to make something of the the S60v5 OS then everyone could have a fight on its hand not because its great but it will sell in huge volumes, it is Nokia after all.