Google to sell Nexus One through Web store

Google-branded device will cost $529 unlocked, or subsidised through T-Mobile USA.

Google Inc. on Tuesday unveiled its much anticipated Nexus One cellphone, the latest step in the online search giant's effort to stake its claim in the nascent mobile Internet.

The device, manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp., runs Google's Android operating system and bears the Google brand.

Google said it will sell the Nexus One directly to consumers via its own Web site. Consumers buying an unlocked phone will be charged $529, but the device will cost $179 for consumers who also buy a service plan with Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA.

Click here to find out more!Google also said Verizon Wireless and Vodafone would soon join the program, meaning that customers on Google's Web store will also be able to select plans from those carriers.

The arrival of the Nexus One marks a shift in Google's mobile strategy, which has been to work with a variety of hardware partners that sell their phones through a variety of carrier partners. The company unveiled Android just over a year ago in hopes it will encourage more people to go online using their mobile phones--and allow Google to deliver more ads to consumers.

The Nexus One also thrusts Google into direct competition with Apple Inc., which sells its popular iPhone at its stores and on its Web site, as well as through AT&T Inc., the company's wireless partner.

But Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said Google's decision to sell the phone only through its Web store online, and forego a massive marketing campaign similar to Apple's iPhone push, will make it more difficult for consumers to discover the Nexus One.

"Unless they give it a big push with marketing dollars, which they are not, consumers are not going to know the phone exists," he said.

The Nexus One features a slightly larger screen than the iPhone and a 5-megapixel camera. It is the first device to run on Android 2.1, the latest version of the Mountain View company's mobile operating system.

Google executives also said the Nexus One was the first in a series of a new category of "superphones," which is defined by the processing power, memory and ease of use of the phone.

"This is as ...

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