'Google phone set for launch': Videos emerge of new Nexus One mobile dubbed 'iPhone-killer'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:53 AM on 16th December 2009
Two videos have emerged of Google's first ever phone called Nexus One.
The mobile is still unofficial but reports suggest it will be launched in the New Year in a bid to take on Apple iPhone.
A technology website has released two short teaser clips of the phone in action. The first video showed the animation on the start up screen, incorporating the colours of Google's logo. The second appeared to show an animated wallpaper.
The phone, also nicknamed 'Passion', will feature Google's own Android 2.1 software and will be manufactured by Taiwan-based manufacturer HTC.
This picture of the Nexus One was one of many that have appeared on Twitter over the weekend
The internet giant is planning to sell two handsets. One will be available with a T-Mobile contract.
The other handset will be sold unlocked directly to customers via its website. This means Google can partly avoid having to tie itself to any particular carrier.
In Britain, iPhones were originally only available to 02 customers. The handsets are now also available on the Orange network.
Google decided to road-test the device by handing them to its own employees over the weekend.
Technology blog Engadget reported that device boasts microSD expansion, WiFi and Bluetooth. It will also use Qualcomm’s super-fast Snapdragon processing chip
The company's mobile phone blog cryptically admitted a phone had been produced with a posting over the weekend.
It said: 'We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with
'Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.'
The Google phone will come loaded with Google Navigation and Google Goggles according to Engadget
The phone is thinner than an iPhone and features a similar touch-screen configuration but with the addition of a Blackberry-style track ball.
The Nexus One has not been officially released but the name has already stirred by controversy. Some commentators have speculated that the name is inspired by Nexus series of androids in the film Blade Runner. However creator Philip K. Dick's daughter, Isa, said: 'We were never consulted, no requests were made, and we didn't grant any sort of permissions.'
Google has created two other 'Googlephones' in the past: the so-called 'Dev Phone 1', which was an unlocked phone the company sold online; and the Ion.
Both were 'Google' handsets, both were given out to employees early on and both were built by HTC.
The internet firm's Android operating system has also been installed on phones manufactured by Motorola and Sony Ericsson.
Customers would still need to have a contract or pay-as-you-go agreement to use it.
Ben Schachter, an analyst at San Francisco-based Broadpoint AmTech Inc, said: ‘If all of a sudden everyone is getting on the internet via their mobile device, Google needs to make sure it has an influence on that.
‘They need to make sure they have influence on how the mobile web will develop.’
Experts believe aim of the launch is to gain access to valuable consumer data that can be used to sell ads at premium prices, rather than to make money from direct hardware sales.
Google said that it had given out handsets for staff to test, so they could ‘experiment with new mobile features and capabilities’ and give quick feedback on the new technology.
Mario Querioz, Google’s London-based vice president of product management, wrote in his blog on Saturday:
‘At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements.
‘We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities.'
Rumours of a so-called 'Googlephone' have appeared regularly ever since the internet company bought a Californian mobile software startup company, also called Android, in 2005.
Watch the two new clips of the Google phone below:
For more information visit www.thenexusone.com and for photos visit www.engadget.com
left
The first widely available Android phone, the G1
Rumours have increased over the possible release of a Google branded smartphone in the New Year, running its Android mobile operating system.  Speculation has been rife after it was reported that Google have distributed handsets to its employees for testing worldwide.

It is believed to be being built by the Taiwan based manufacturer HTC, who have already released two phones based on the Android operating system and will feature the newly released Android 2.0.  It is currently named the Nexus One.  On their official blog, Google have confirmed the existence of a handset and the fact that it is currently being tested, but have relased no more details.

It is also understood that it will be sold directly to consumers and will not be locked to any particular network, in a sharp departure from previous handsets sporting Android.  Ben Schachter, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech Inc, based in San Francisco, said: "If all of a sudden everyone is getting on the internet via their mobile device, Google needs to make sure it has an influence on that...they need to make sure they have influence on how the mobile web will develop."

Google is one of the founding members of The Open Handset Alliance, creator of the open-sourced mobile OS Android.