A report over at the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Google is indeed planning to come up with its own cellphone beginning next year. The report came after TechCrunch posted that some Google employees have been excitingly tweeting that they received such a device for testing. One such tweet claimed the Google Phone is "like an iPhone on beautifying steroids."
Nicknamed "Nexus One," the Google Phone is designed by the search engine company and according to some leaked photos (like the one above) appears like it is manufactured using HTC hardware. It has a touch screen, a trackball, and no physical keyboard. The Nexus One will initially be sold online without an exclusive wireless partner, which is said to be an attempt by Google to break the wireless carrier’s tight grip on mobile Internet services. This means that users would have to get their wireless services separately, that is if these companies would allow it.
You see, unlike the rest of the world, unlocked phones (devices that are not partnered with a wireless carrier) are not too popular although wireless carriers can activate its service to handsets that were not bought directly to them. However, the Google Phone is said to have ruffled the feathers of some networks, especially among those who have yet to introduce their own phones that run on Google’s Android mobile OS such as AT&T-America’s exclusive carrier of the iPhone-and are likely to think twice before doing so.
Image source: Cory O’Brien via Twitter
