It was a long time ago when the first rumors on a possible Google Phone surfaced into the wild, and now those rumors seem to be getting as close as possible to becoming reality. Not only did the said device landed into Google's employees' hands, but photos with it also surfaced into the wild, as well as some news / rumors on its possible availability: next year, with no carrier subsidies involved.

The most interesting part of the news is that the Nexus One phone seems to be none other than the HTC Passion device some of you might have heard about already. It is said to come with the same 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen display and with the same 5-megapixel photo snapper. Moreover, a quick look at the new photos that are available with the device and at the previously leaked image with the HTC Passion, aka Dragon, will show you the resemblance between them.

Google itself confirmed in a way the existence of Nexus One / the Google phone. On a post on the Google Mobile Blog, the company announced that its employees received a new device to play around with. On the other hand, the company says it is only for testing purposes, as the handset sports some new technologies, which need to be tested and improved.

Previous rumors suggested that the Google phone would arrive on the market with a new version of Android, unseen and unheard of before, but the recent reports suggest that it should be nothing else than the upcoming Android 2.1 iteration. Google phone or not, there is a new HTC handset at large, and it should arrive in the not too far future with a new software solution for users. We'll just have to sit back and wait until more detailed info on it emerges.

For the time being, it seems that there is no official name for the upcoming device, though its codename is said to be Nexus One. While WSJ seems pretty confident that the handset is the Google self-branded phone we've been hearing about, there are some things that just don't add up, such as the fact that Google is set to sell the handset directly to consumers or to retailers. Google has already said that it is mainly into the software licensing business, if you recall.

Moreover, there are some rumors suggesting that the handset will arrive on shelves with T-Mobile and AT&T connectivity options, and that T-Mobile might also sell it, with no contract option included in the equation. Best Buy is another place from where consumers should be able to snag this handset, it seems. There are no official details available on the handset, but, if it is indeed the rumored HTC Passion, one might expect it to go official during the first quarter of the next year.

Those interested in taking a look at some photos available with the Nexus One, or on some taken with its camera, should head to this Engadget article for them. At the same time, one might also want to check on another post on the news site, to learn what the Google employees that tested / are testing the device think of it.