Google finally released their Nexus One mobile phone handset yesterday. It appears that Google have brought to market a mobile phone that is set to rival all others. Nexus One is to be the first in a series of Nexus devices from the search engine giant. The Nexus One has been designed to take advantage of the Android mobile operating system.

The Google way to buy a phone.

With the exception of the iPhone, almost all mobile phones are currently sold through the major networks. Traditionally customers tend to choose the network first, and then the phone from a selection of devices that a particular mobile carrier supports. Today with the launch of the Google phone store customers can choose the phone first, with the choice of network being secondary.

Yesterday, Google launched an unlocked phone, which can be bought directly from them (Google)

Google also announced that they will soon be adding more Android devices to the store, including some from Motorola, and also increasing the choice of available carriers.

There is some significance to the year 2012 other than the Mayan calendar ending and also the year of the London olympic games. The GSM Association has announced that it and 17 of it’s partner companies are working a universal cellphone charger solution. They think they will have a common format in place by 2012. Seems like it should meet the deadline no problem since the group’s choice of connector, micro-USB, has already gained acceptance as a pretty common format.

The Android Market on Google android enabled phones e.g the T-mobile G1/HTC Dream now allow developers of apps to sell there apps in the market.

“I’m pleased to announce that Android Market is now accepting priced applications from US and UK developers,” said Eric Chu in a blog post Friday. “Initially, priced applications will be available to end users in the US starting mid next week.”

Until now, Android Market had only offered free applications. But Google has been working to improve it from its initial incarnation. “Android Market is able to distinguish among different Android devices. As devices are released, Android Market will ensure that users only see applications that will work correctly on their devices,” Google said.

Support in other countries will follow. “We will also enable developers in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France, and Spain to offer priced applications later this quarter. By the end of Q1 2009, we will announce support for developers in additional countries,” Chu said.

Chu also said free applications would be available through Android Market in Australia beginning Sunday and in Singapore “in coming weeks.”

Welcome to Clubit Mobiles. Here you will find a whole host of information about all the latest activity in the mobile phone world. We have exclusive reviews, previews of new products and video footage for you to view and comment on to name but a few things. You can also buy your mobile phone from ClubitMobile.com by clicking here

Free Gifts - The vast majority of our handsets are free and most come with either cashback / line rental discounts, or fantastic free gifts such as Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 Consoles, Ipods and LCD tv’s etc.

No sooner have HTC’s plans for an Android G2 phone leaked out, are the Taiwanese mobile giants are slap bang in the middle of another piece of Google mobile–based tittle tattle.

Just when you thought that the T-Mobile G1 was the best thing ever created, tipped as one of the top 10 must have gadgets of 2009, HTC now have plans to create an even newer model, a hybrid of the Google android operating system and HTC’s touch screen developments.

Our buddy’s over at Engadget got their sneaky little hands on information from deep inside the heart of T–Mobile’s operations and have found details of which show off drawings of a phone codenamed ‘Sapphire’, known internally as the G2.

It will again be HTC who will be building the device for T–Mobile, having come up with the goods with the G1 last year.

The new phone appears to have exactly the same full-on touchscreen controls although sadly this time without the QWERTY keyboard found on the T-mobile G1, with rounder curves and a sharper design to take on the might of the iPhone.

There’s no word on when the device will be hitting stores, but you can bet it’ll be doing the rounds at this year’s Mobile World Congress. For more on Android news check out: How to Jailbraik a T-mobile G1 , Exclusive T-Mobile G1 review , Comparing prices with the Shopsavvy andorid app and New android web browser.

There is now a new mobile web browser on the scene strongly named “Steel” which is made by a currently small time software development team called KolbySoft. T-Mobile G1 users can download from App Market for free. I currently haven’t tested the browser but hopefully soon I will make a video review of the app.

Few things you might see in future by KolbySoft:

handling multiple windows
download support
configuration settings

clearing application data (cache, history)
On screen keybored (view images below)

Just found this photo thanks to developer:

Below is an example of the on screen touch key bored which would mean you woudnt have to have your G1 device’s key bored open.

According to the guys at LiveCrunch “AUTO-ROTATION” is one of the features already implemented

Via: LiveCrunch + Kolbysoft

You may have heard me allready ranting on about this new great Android application called ShopSavvy, it’s developed by a Texas based company called Big in Japan, inc

Check out the video below.

The video below is an advert for the G1 and features the shop savvy application.

The below video shows you how to download Shopsavvy (Formally goCart)

Here is an introduction to the application:

Check out the application, in my opinion its one of the best apps on the t-mobile G1 right now.

Reading an article on Gadget Tell about how huge Shopsavvy could potentially be they say ”

The Big in Japan guys want to build partnerships with retailers.  Here is the scenario they imagine.  You go into a brick and mortar store and see an item.  You use ShopSavvy and find out you could get a better price elsewhere.

The retailer/partner who works with Big in Japan would offer a price match or lower price and send that info to your Android phone.  When you go up to the register, just swipe the barcode from your phone.

I’ve got to say, that is a very cool scenario.  I’m sure I am not the only one who would love to dispense with delayed gratification and be able to pick up an item in a store at a competitive price.

In case the price-matching plan does not pan out, Big in Japan is also looking to bring one-click shopping to your pocket.  These sound like great ideas and I am excited to see what they do next”

Amazing eh?

If you’ve been waiting to play around with an Android phone and put it through its paces, but don’t want to get on contract which is exclusive to the T-Mobile service provider, the only way your going to be able to get a phone which isn’t on T-Mobile is to jailbreak it similar to the iPhone jailbreak hack, remember by doing this comes with serious compromises in functionality again similar to the iPhone.

Now, if you’re prepared to get your wallet out and chuck a hefty £265 (plus a £20 sign-up fee), you can get a G1 with its hardware and SIM completely unlocked, and no need to commit to a T-Mobile data contract for two years (although the minimum contract was reduced recently from £40 to £30 a month, that still makes the unlocked version cheaper over a period of a year).

Officially, the unlocked G1 which is the HTC handset that is currently the only device available based on Google’s Android software platform, it is currently for developers only, but anyone can register as a developer for a one-off fee of $25 (likely to be around £20 in the UK). This option will also be available to users in countries where there is no T-Mobile network – 18 countries at first, with more to follow next year, including India.

The Android DevPhone 1 is SIM and hardware unlocked, but otherwise identical to the T-Mobile model. This shows Google’s level of control over Android and T-Mobile seems to have had little say in the decision to unleash an unlocked G1 just as the operator is reaching the peak of the product’s sales cycle, pre-Christmas. It also shows off Google’s determination to take a different approach to the tightly closed strategy of Apple for the iPhone and to rely on this contrast heavily in its marketing and its appeal to developers.

To get a DevPhone 1, users need to register as Android developers at the Android market applications store site. There is a limit of one device per developer account. The scheme will be available initially in 18 markets USA, UK, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland and Hungary.

This is the first every apparent mobile phone advertisement, the video is on youtube and is one of the most conviniant brick that anyone has ever seen.

I’ve had my T-mobile G1 by HTC for about a week now, I’ve only had a bit of a play about with it so far. I’ve been amazing friends and relatives with its amazing applications. Yesterday I found out there was soon going to be a new mobile phone using the android platform which will be launching in January 2009.

I think the phones got an amazingly cool design, really easy to use touch screen functions in my opinion better than the iPhone although only 6 months ago I would have argued that no current phone is better than the apple iPhone, well.. here it is, the T-Mobile G1.

So far I’ve downloaded and I’m actively using the following applications.

fBook:

A facebook application got Android, baseiccly makes the M.Facebook.com system work a lot easier and faster with your Andorid phone also, your phone vibrates when you get a facebook message as well as the fact you can upload photos directly from your phone to Facebook.

FotMob:

This is a great application for football (Soccer) fans, you can get all the data from leagues, top goal scorers, fixtures, tables and a feature which I am yet to test out is the live matches options.

iMeem:

iMeem is a social network that enables users to discover, interact and express themselves
with media, including music, video and photos, and form connections based on shared tastes and interests.
The app lets you find the most listened to music in your local area which is a nice touch I think.

PAC-MAN by Namco:

The original pacman game from Namco is included in the android app market on the G1, pretty much everyone who checks out my phone always think its cool to play pacman for about 30 seconds and then there bored.

Meebo:

Meebo is a really cool online IM app which I use quite frequently use, it lets you connect with IM services such as MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo ect..

Shopsavvy:

Shopsavvy is a really cool app that I’ve been using recently mainly for Xmas shopping and looking just randomly scanning bar codes of products in shop and around the office. The other day I was in Toys’r'us and I was getting weird looks from people when I was holding my phone up against a board game. Baseicly what ShopSavvy does is lets you scan a bar code of a product and then makes a comparison of the product and shows you in a list where you can buy it cheaply from e.g if it was a video game it would search Clubit retail, Amazon and Play.com it Also compares prices locally too and tells you about shops near by selling the product.

Recently T-Mobile have cut the cost of the G1 Google phone from HTC, making it available for free on cheaper monthly mobile contracts. I was originally going to get a white one because I thought it would be pretty cool but when going into the T-Mobile shop I thought the white version looked pretty tacky and looked like it was cheaply made and I’ve also heard rumors that it goes a weird brown color after a few months…

Previously, prospective buyers of the handset had to pay a £40 monthly fee on an 18-month contract. However, T-Mobile has reduced the cost of the mobile phone by £10, allowing consumers to acquire the phone for £30 each month.

The company has stated that existing G1 customers will be able to switch to one of the new price plans by phoning T-Mobile’s customer services.

It is hoped that the lower price will lead to sustained interest in the unit and boost sales in the run-up to Christmas. The firm has denied that the price reduction is due to a decline in sales or disappointing figures.

However, analysts have suggested that the G1 has had less of an impact in the UK than the US.
Experts believe that this is because T-Mobile invested in a larger marketing campaign in the US, which has led to the G1 and Google Android platform causing “more of a stir so far”.

T-Mobile said it has chosen to cut costs to “offer the device free with a £30 contract to make the pricing more competitive in light of recent device launches”.
This is despite the firm being “well on track to achieve sales forecasts”.
Samsung and LG have both released new smartphones in the past two months.
LG’s Renoir and the Samsung Pixon both have eight-megapixel cameras and are operated using a touchscreen.

I’ve got the £35 a month contract which gets me unlimited texts and mobile browsing, 700minutes and a free HTC T-mobile G1 phone with Android which in my opinion is better than the Apple iPhone.