14 DAY TRIAL // Hot on the heels of this weekend's news and rumors on what is supposedly the Google Phone, a new series of details emerged on the HTC Nexus One, a device that seems to be none other than the HTC Passion most of you might have heard of before. This time around, we have some availability and pricing info available from various sources, as well as a short video that supposedly shows the boot animation of the device, and some new photos with it.
Starting with the availability news, Reuters says that, according to sources close to the matter, the HTC Nexus One is expected to become available for purchase directly from Google's website, starting with January 5, 2010. The handset will supposedly be sold unlocked, though a second version of it is also expected to arrive on the market, one that will make an appearance on T-Mobile USA's airwaves.
At the same time, some of the latest posts around the blogosphere suggest that, when available, the Nexus One will feature a price tag of $199 unlocked, while also featuring a $100 rebate online for those who have “an active and old Google account.” Moreover, it has been also suggested that the device will sport this price while not being subsidized, though it definitely sounds pretty hard to believe. In case the $199 will be there, it will most probably be the on-contract price tag with T-Mobile, and not the SIM free one. Unless, of course, Google subsidizes it, as some suggest.
A possible support page for the device has been also found, “google.com/phone/support”, and Android Guys says in a post that it hits at other phones too, suggesting that more than one Google phone will come to the market. If we're to consider that Google phone means a handset running under Android, (which makes better sense, some suggest) then it is obvious that more Android phones will be coming, as analysts already predicted.
In the mean time, you might want to check on that short video below, just to have a look at what is said to be the boot animation of HTC Nexus One. Surely enough, it does remind of some of Microsoft's products, including Xbox and Windows, but that might only be a coincidence. At the same time, some new photos with the device are also available, one that shows a little of its menu, one with the homescreen, and two new images with it in the wild.
“Apple had a phone so hot it changed the business model and got operators to agree to revenue sharing. This is going to change the business too,” the aforementioned Reuters source noted. Perhaps this would be the reason for which Google delivered the device to its employees for testing. For what it's worth, the rumors on the phone already escalated, but official details should not keep us waiting too much, if the January 5 launch date pans out. We should also mention that HTC reportedly said recently that it was optimistic about the future work with Google, though it didn't comment on the HTC Nexus One rumors.
