The Wall Street Journalreports that Google will be selling a phone next year called Nexus One. The smartphone is being manufactured by HTC Corp. The Nexus One will run on Google's Android software as well as applications Google created in house specifically for this new phone. Google will be selling the phone itself. It will not be tied to a cell phone plan.
The phone is called the Nexus One and is being manufactured for Google by HTC Corp., these people said. It runs Android, the operating system for mobile phones that Google developed, they added.
But unlike the more than half-dozen Android phones made by phone manufacturers today, Google designed virtually the entire software experience behind the phone, from the applications that run on it to the look and feel of each screen.
The Internet giant is taking a new, and potentially risky, approach to selling the device. Rather than selling the phone through a wireless carrier--the way the bulk of phones are sold in the U.S. today--Google plans to sell the Nexus One itself online. Users will have to buy cellular service for the device separately.
There are is also a report on TechCrunch that says many Google employees were given the phones and they are blogging and tweeting about how cool they are. There is more discussion of the Google phone here on Techmeme.
