Finally, the google phone – Nexus One – is available for purchase. I had a look at the phone few weeks earlier at a friend’s house and was quite impressed. As mentioned in all the reviews, great form factor, amazing voice recognition, beautiful screen! A full set of nexus one demo videos available on techcrunch/youtube.
Everything seemed impressive and i was ready to pullout my credit card to order this phone at a hefty price tag of $530 but i noticed this fine print. It says,
The currently available Nexus One device is unlocked and will recognize SIM cards from any mobile service provider using the GSM standard, but is incompatible with the frequency band used by the AT&T and Rogers networks for 3G data (see below). Additionally, the Nexus One is incompatible with CDMA networks such as Verizon and Sprint.
What? Vat Vat? Come Again?
It will work with AT&T but no data — not useful
It wont work with Verizon, till they come out with a CDMA phone which then won’t work with any GSM network.
It wont work with Sprint, till they come out with a CDMA phone which then won’t work with any GSM network.
So that leaves it working with T-Mobile. So there is no point in buying this phone without T-Mobile service in USA.
So much for unlocked and open!
Ravi, if you haven’t already figured this out – there is data with at&t but just not 3g. It runs on the slower EDGE connection due to frequency differences.
In my case I am happy with edge since that’s all I am paying for with my $15 non-iphone data plan with at&t. At home and at work I do rely on wifi.
Yes indeed! There is data with at&t just not 3g. I am a person who buys in the new dreams easily and thus disappointed too. I was just hoping that “unlocked and open” would truly be that. It looks like the phone companies win again.
I still think it is an awesome device, just that it is practically a t-mobile 3g handset.
For my usage, I am assuming that i wouldn’t miss 3g as much, given that i am mostly near a wifi point.