Amidst all the hype about Tuesday’s expected launch of the first Google Phone, there is one overriding question that has gone unanswered: what is the One Big Idea behind this device that is so compelling that Google thinks it’s worth risking its relationship with other handset makers over?
Just sticking a Google brand on an HTC handset doesn’t add up to much, particularly since some Android phones already carry co-branding.
Maybe Google thinks it needs more control over the overall experience and has had a bigger hand in the hardware and software design. But it has also worked closely with Motorola and others on previous Android handsets, so how new would this be? According to this unauthorised review on Engadget, it’s nice, but only really a sleeker version of the Droid.
And selling an unlocked version online for more than $500 hardly looks like a disruptive innovation that will turn the industry upside down. As Apple proved with the first iPhone, an unsubsidised smartphone will never be a big seller.
So the talk we’ve been hearing of other mobile operators lining up to place their own SIM cards in the first Google Phone – and offer their own subsidies on the device – starts to sound very interesting. And it could also help to explain that curious name – Nexus One.
We understand that other carriers have been talking about joining T-Mobile in offering plans for the Nexus One on Google’s Website. This early view of the site gives some idea of how it might look. Imagine going online to buy your next phone, and being able to browse a list of different carrier options to go with it.
Maybe you’d prefer to run it on the Verizon network. Or maybe Sprint (or Vodafone) offers a combination of subsidy and monthly pricing plan that best suits you. If these and other carriers all listed their offers in one place, it would change the experience of buying a phone.
It would be a true Nexus – a Website that sits at the centre, where all the options come together.
At its launch, though, it looks like Nexus One will only work on T-Mobile’s 3G network in the US, or on AT&T’s slower GSM network, so any true cross-carrier distribution platform like this would take time to evolve.
Also: Why would the mobile operators give away their control of distribution like this? In a sea of me-too mobile services, keeping their direct access to customers seems essential.
I guess we’ll have to wait for Tuesday’s event to get a better idea of that.
