Here’s the price: $199 unlocked in stores. $100 rebate online if you have an active and old Google account. That $100 rebate is either to buy it $99 online from Google’s online phone store, for using on Android Marketplace or for using on any Google Checkout stores. Can also be used for T-Mobile or AT&T pre-paid Data SIM card service at $29 per month, no contracts required.

From Reuters:

The phone, manufactured by HTC, has a number of code names such as HTC Passion, Dream or Nexus One and could be available directly though the Google website as early as January 5, according to the source.

Nothing’s definite yet. Until we actually see an official announcement from an official Google rep, I won’t bother adding to the rumor pool. What’s clear though is that this development will potentially leave other manufacturers and operators who’ve jumped on the Android OS bandwagon out in the cold. If the $199 unlocked price tag is true, why would you bother locking yourself to a two-year contract then?

I just hope that Google plans to make the Nexus One available worldwide. If they’re really pushing a mobile free from the restrictions of traditional service provider plans or lock-ins, I’d like to see the geography barrier fall as well.

What do you think? Do the rumors above hold any truth? I’m pretty loaded gadget-wise, and won’t spend in that regard for Christmas anyway, so it’s a wait-and-see game for me.

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Courtesy Source

What are the implications? Well, I don’t think we’ll hear Google complaining. The Android OS is the company’s attempt to make its mobile presence more significant, and Google is traditionally about letting people do what they want with what they have (Google Voice vs. Apple, anyone?).

We will hear complaints from T-Mobile, as this hack potentially gives them less control over its subscribers, if any will remain at all. This will probably lead to other operators to rethink any plans to subsidize Android OS devices, as US operators love dictating what their customers can and can’t do.

In any case, click on the source for full instructions on rooting your Android device—and what precautions to take. A video summarizing that is below:

Source

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Courtesy Boy Genius Report

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 12
• Size: 68.6cc
• 103g grams weight
• Dimensions: 58 x 122 x 11.7mm
• Display: 3.5″ nHD 640×360 LCD, 18-bit, 262K colors
• OTA capable
• Microsoft Exchange support
• Google, AIM, Yahoo and MSN IM support
• 3 megapixel auto-focus, flash, 8x digital zoom camera with 30fps video shooting mode, built in photo editor
• USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• A-GPS
• On-screen QWERTY keyboard, hardwriting recognition, multi touch UI
• MicroSD slot

Pretty thin and full-featured, if you ask me. And unless the version of Android to run on this gadget was changed significantly, future buyers should expect a responsive experience.

Given the intentionally blurriness of the product pic, I’m calling this an intentional leak. In any case, updates as they become official to follow.

Source

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What do you think of the rumored interface? It looks too flashy for its own good, taking too much time to animate elements unnecessarily. No doubt the eye candy is sweet, but as our source says, it will probably grow old quickly. Maybe there will be an option to disable the more complicated UI animations? In any case, word on the virtual streets is that the Sony Ericsson “Rachael” will:

• Be part of the Sony Ericsson Xperia family, joining the Xperia X1
• Run on a modified Android OS interface
• Use the Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon platform. The processor-chipset setup promises speeds of up to 1 GHz, and is apparently capable of 3D graphics
• Support HSPA
• Feature an 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus
• Boast a 4″ touchscreen with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution
• Make use of a 3.5mm standard earphone jack and a miniUSB port

Updates to follow as they become available, so stay tuned!

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Courtesy BillShrink

Here’s that table in real-text form:

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Featured at the recently concluded Computex, it’s obvious that Google needs to change at least one thing: you don’t tell a laptop owner to turn of his or her “phone”. Interesting though how the apparently unvarnished version of the OS automatically adapts to a laptop’s larger-than-mobile resolution. According to the video’s uploader, Asus was publicizing their own Android-based laptop, but reportedly chose not to showcase a demo unit.

Compal, the company behind the laptop, is known as the outsourced manufacturer for big brands like Dell and HP. It specializes in the production of notebooks and computer displays.

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Finally, Android G1 owners can now edit their Google Doc spreadsheets on their mobile browser, reports TechCrunch. Jonathan Rochelle, the senior product manager Google Spreadhseets, proudly showed off his team’s latest creation.

As he added rows, edited, sorted, and filtered on his phone, the changes would automatically be reflected in the same spreadsheet on his desktop. (I took a photo of him doing this—with my iPhone, naturally). Each row can be edited by clicking on an “edit” link, and columns can be sorted via a box at the top of each one which then pops open an overlay screen that allows you to select each name or other variable you want to view in that column.

What I find particularly interesting though, is why mobile editing made it to Spreadsheets first (currently Android users can only view Google Documents and Presentations). Wouldn’t it take less to allow the editing of what’s basically formatted text? And aren’t there less objects to work with when modifying presentations? To be even more speculative: are Google’s developments not syngergizing with each other?

In any case, TechCrunch has promised that the Spreadsheet-editing functionality should be up as you read this, or by noon at the latest. Potentially a great new feature for Android users. Take note though, online access is a requirement—a limitation Google should work on eliminating ASAP.

(Image from source article)

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At the same time however, Ed’s discussion of the issue also shows the advantages of open source, and why being able to share info quickly over the internet is a great thing:

Because Android is open source, the problem was quickly tracked down by users to a couple lines in the system file init.rc. My guess is that this was accidentally left in during device debugging. Thankfully the fix is trivial; you can probably even make it yourself if you’re so inclined (just comment out the offending lines described in the reports above and reboot).

Here’s a workaround I just discovered: Open the keyboard and type these 5 keystrokes: -c-a-t-. That will cause the phantom shell to not listen to commands any more, at least until the next reboot. [italics mine]

Let’s go over that again, shall we? First, Ed highlights the open-source nature of Google’s Android OS, facilitating the discovery of the problem’s source by users. At the same time, through his own blog, Ed quickly shares his own solution to the problem. Now, what more could you ask for?

By the way, a fix for this is part of RC30. So any (legit) G1 users out there, feel free to update as soon as possible.

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The G1 Phone is $179, and will be out on October 22. Good thing the price is low, and let’s hope that it doesn’t come with some two-year strings attached. (techcrunch.com)

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