Today Google and HTC officially announced the worst-kept tech “secret” of 2010: the Nexus One Android Smartphone.  The new device, which has been known to exist for weeks, features a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, GPS, Wi-Fi, an array of sensors, and a 5MP digital camera with autofocus and LED flash. 

The Nexus One runs Android 2.1, and is the first smartphone to do so.  New OS features include Facebook and Picasa integration, Quick Contacts, animated wallpaper, a new standard news/weather widget, a tweaked app launcher and additional homescreen panes.

Voice support has also been added for all text entry, so you can dictate anywhere you can type, and more applications are voice-aware for spoken commands. 

The Nexus One is being sold both unlocked directly from Google ($529) or under contract with T-Mobile service ($179).  Verizon Wireless will begin offering a version of the Nexus One in the spring. 

Learn more about the Nexus One Android Smartphone…

We’ve added new accessories to the Pocket PC Central Motorola Droid Smartphone Accessories Center.  The following pages have been updated with new accessory listings:

• Motorola Droid Cradles & Docks
• Motorola Droid Car & Truck Accessories
• Motorola Droid Batteries & Extenders
• Motorola Droid Cases & Skins

Google is expected to announce its first branded phone on Tuesday, the Nexus One.  And the upcoming smartphone has, to say the least, generated a great deal of Internet buzz.  Sure, we all love Android (well, many of us do), but as the device’s release grows near, I’ve been wondering more and more…

What exactly is the big deal about the Nexus One?

The excitement, it seems, centers mainly on Google’s reported decision to claim the device as its own.  All previous Android-powered smartphones have been products touted and sold by their respective manufacturers/carriers, so there would seem to be something about the Nexus One that sets it apart – enough for Google to stamp the device with its logo and sell it unlocked directly to users, an unprecedented move. 

Could that “apartness” be as simple as hardware specs? The Nexus One, according to what information we have, is certainly a high-end phone, with features like a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, an OLED touchscreen display, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. 

Or could there be something else about the device that makes it Google-worthy?

Perhaps the Nexus One has a Google Voice trick or two up its sleeve.  The phone number replacement service has been rumored to be receiving an VoIP update for some time (particularly following Google’s acquisition of Gizmo5), so is the Nexus One a move into data-plan-only mobile phones?  It doesn’t seem like wireless carriers would be too thrilled at that prospect.

Plus, since the Nexus One is a GSM phone, it can only be used in the U.S. with AT&T and T-Mobile. T-Mobile has a less-than-stellar 3G network at the moment and AT&T’s 3G network is currently bogged down with data hungry iPhone users.  That would seem to rule out either carrier’s network being dependable enough for reliable VoIP calling, and who would you use a phone that only worked where Wi-Fi was available?

Maybe Google is planning to use the Nexus One as a transitional product, with both traditional and VoIP voice features.  Or perhaps the company has simply decided to release an Android handset entirely on its own terms.

At the end of the day, what I really want to know is: what is exactly is the “nexus” in the Nexus One – what’s being bridged here?  Google with the retail hardware business?  Or Android with a new Google-powered service?

Hopefully all will be made clear next week. 

M. Nichols, Products Editor

See Also:

Google Nexus One Accessories Center

graphic by Artem Mostovoy

The Pocket PC Central Accessories Center has been updated and now includes accessories for the HP iPAQ Glisten smartphone.  There you can find batteries, cases, sync cables, and other accessories for the new iPAQ Glisten Windows Phone.

Visit the Pocket PC Central iPAQ Glisten Accessories Center…

or

Learn more about the HP iPAQ Glisten Windows Phone…

ZAGG, makers of invisibleSHIELD, are offering 35% off of the smartphone protective film today only. 

invisibleSHIELD is a clear, patented film which covers a wide range of devices – including smartphones – and protects them from scratches and scrapes without adding significantly to the size or weight of the handheld.  Each shield is cut specifically to fit a particular device.

For the 35% savings, visit ZAGG.com and enter code HOLIDAY35 at checkout. 

As smartphones become an increasingly integral part of our lives, the pressure to boost their processing power is constantly building. One of the most talked-about mobile processors, NVIDIA’s Tegra SoC (System on a Chip), is already doing the heavy lifting for the Zune HD, but not much else, and many expected the chipset to be included on the spec sheets of upcoming smartphones months ago. 

None have surfaced.

So it may be the second generation Tegra that makes the first significant appearance in smartphones.  NVIDIA’s Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications, Mike Hara, recently teased that the next version of the Tegra SoC will begin showing up in phones in the second half of 2010, just in time for Windows Mobile 7 (assuming the OS is not delayed until 2015).

“At CES we are going to make a major announcement about Tegra family. It is highly possible that we will see some very interesting form-factors coming out at the same time. [There will be products] shown by our partners using the next-generation Tegra device. You are going to see roll-outs and deployments of tablet PCs, smartbooks, netbooks, MIDs throughout the first half [of the year]; and then you will see major roll-outs of smartphones in the second half…”

There were no further details about Tegra 2 or what manufacturers are planning to employ it.  The 40nm, low-power chipset will likely be significantly faster and include more multimedia goodies. 

As for specifics, we’ll just have to wait for CES.

via SlashGear

iTunes doesn’t sync with non-Apple products, and sadly, this is very much by design.  One could argue the company would sell more music and video if this were not the case, but we digress.

So if you have an Android phone, the most popular music management software isn’t an option.  What is an option, however, is an up-and-coming iTunes clone, doubleTwist. 

This software is designed for many mobile devices, but is very Android OS friendly.  With doubleTwist, you can purchase new music via AmazonMP3, manage music, video and photo collections, and sync this media with your phone.  You can even create and sync playlists. 

If you’re an Android user and have been missing a convenient way to manage the media on your phone, read our latest Android Help Center article, doubleTwist: The iTunes for Android.

Don’t grade too harshly for originality on this pick, but the Amazon Kindle 2 simply had to be included in the Gadget Gift Idea section this year.  Plainly put, for a book lover, the Kindle is the most amazing gift you could give this holiday season (other than perhaps a first edition of Shakespeare’s “First Folio”).

The Kindle has changed the way I read.  It’s thin and light, holds hundreds of books, and includes handy features like a built-in dictionary, highlighting and notes. Add to that works-anywhere wireless delivery of books, the ability to buy new books right on the device, and access to popular newspapers, magazines and blogs, and any bibliophile will be in heaven.

If you’re giving the Kindle as a gift, be sure to use the Gift Options menu at checkout to ship the device unregistered; that way the recipient can link the Kindle to his or her Amazon account as soon as they receive it rather than having to de-couple the reader from your account first.

M. Nichols, Editor