Google smartphone

The date for the launch of Nexus One, as the Google device is called, has been the subject of wild speculation for quite some time, but with media outfits receiving invitations to an "Android press gathering," it is widely believed that, come the close of business on Tuesday, the guess work will be over.

It is not the Internet search engine's first foray into cell phone technology. The company made its debut in 2008 when it lent its Android mobile operating system to T-Mobile's G1.

But the Nexus One is the first smartphone that Google will be calling its own and there is clearly a lot of interest. That said, some of those who have had a sneak preview - among them Google employees - are not falling over themselves with enthusiasm.

In a detailed review of the phone, Joshua Topolsky wrote on his technology blog, Engadget, that it was essentially just another Android smartphone.

"It's a particularly good one," he said. "It's certainly up there with the best of its breed - but it's not in any way the Earth-shattering, paradigm-skewing device the media and community cheerleaders have built it up to be."

Market overload?

That being the case, how is Google's new baby going to fare once it comes out from behind its veil? Bildunterschrift:

Mobile phone expert, Lutz Herkner told Deutsche Welle that the phone has been over-hyped and has the potential to leave a taste of disappointment.

"Because it is Google, people are really expecting something great, but the phone is not a revolution," he said. "I would have thought they would have done something more innovative like push their own service."

But so far, all the talk is of Google on the outside rather than the inside of the phone. In fact, besides a different and some say better aesthetic, the word seems to be that the Nexus One will not offer anything vastly different to the iPhone.

Boxing gloves are off

One could then be tempted to ask if there is really a need for more gadgets that do the same things as their predecessors. William Higham, Consumer Trend Consultant at The Next Big Thing in London says Google versus Apple is like the Rolling Stones versus the Beatles and that both have a place in 21st century society.

"Smartphones have become the things in our lives that matter," Higham told Deutsche Welle. "We are persuaded we want one, and when we discover them, we keep finding new ways to use them."

Never a truer word was spoken. On the bus, at the beach, at work, in the garden, up a hill, pretty much wherever one looks, there is someone not too far away with their head bent over a smartphone.

But it is not as if email or Facebook or Twitter or Wikipedia or other web content that users can access on smartphones is dazzlingly new, so just what is it about the technology that has convinced so many people that they need to spend hours on end cooing over their shiny little boxes?

Communication 24/7

Citing polls taken during times of economic hardship, Higham claims that what people increasingly want from their smartphones is the ability to communicate with family and friends for comparatively little money. And this, they can do.

As for social mores, Higham says they are bound to undergo a period of adjustment while society adapts to the technology currently running it. But he insists that all the talk about the glory of 'apps' will ultimately fizzle out.

"At the moment there is some rudeness, people play with their phones at dinner, but that will stop," the trend consultant said. "People will ultimately adapt, they will put the baby back in the cot and talk to their friends."

But until such time, there is likely a lot more chatting and tweeting to be done on the subject of who has which phone. And at least some it will start when Google presents its Nexus One to the wider public.

Reporter: Tamsin Walker
Editor: Stuart Tiffen