That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for the Nexus One. That’s right, the two year old Google Nexus One is making its way into space. No, astronauts aren’t taking the phone into space so they can get their Angry Birds Stars Wars on, instead they are basically launching the phone into space as part of the “PhoneSat Program”.

What is this program all about? Basically it is an effort to create small, low-cost and easy-to-build nano-satellites. The program will see the Nexus One put into space in 2013. This isn’t actually so exiting for the Nexus One, in reality. Space is sort of a “been there, done that” frontier for the aging Google/HTC smartphone. In 2010, it was strapped to a rocket and used to record every step of the trip.

Considering how weak the computers were that let us land on the moon, I suppose the Nexus One is more than adequate enough to serve as a nano-satellite. I can already picture aliens arriving and seeing all the junk smartphones floating around our planet…. I wonder what kind of impression that would give. If I were the aliens, I’d pretend I didn’t notice the planet and just keep on my way.

This is a cool plan on NASA’s part and an interesting way to recycle older smartphones, at that. What do you think?

[ source ]

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No, it’s not quite the same as getting your hands on the upcoming Nexus Prime and tasting Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but it is nice to see that the old darling of the Droid world is still getting some love. If you happen to have an unbraded version of the Google Nexus One, you should be receiving an OTA update for Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread.

The over the air update should be a seamless upgrade, like most other updates to Android, and it has been confirmed that this update “doesn’t seem to hobble the Wi-Fi tethering option that some Nexus S owners experienced.” That’s the good news.

I wouldn’t say that it’s bad news, but the neutral news is that Android 2.3.6 doesn’t seem to come along with too much in terms of fancy bells and whistles. It appears that this is mostly a security patch and minor bug fix. In any case, the update is rolling out to the unbranded Nexus Ones so if you’re still rocking one of these gems, you might want to check if you can have it yet.

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As if dropped calls weren’t bad enough, the “death grip” actually increases the amount of radio frequency radiation being pumped from our cell phones into our skulls.  Tawkon, an Israeli mobile software company released a video showing its app measuring radiation output of an iPhone 4, BlackBerry Bold, and Google Nexus One.

 
The devices show significant increases in RF radiation when the phones are gripped firmly in the user’s palm.  This type of grasp blocks the phone’s antenna, so the device must up its RF output in order to remain connected.  The same thing happens when a user steps into an elevator or into any other low-signal area.  So, we’re obviously losing connection during these times, but are we losing anything else?

According to Tawkon co-founder Amit Lubovsky, “Tawkon doesn’t advocate that the “death grip” is necessarily unsafe, because final answers on the health ramifications of mobile phone usage won’t be known for decades, until researchers have had that time to track long-term usage and impact. However, recent studies do indicate a health impact of mobile phone radiation on mobile phone users, especially on people whose usage is termed excessive and cumulative. Until the long-term studies are concluded (decades from now), Tawkon believes consumers should have the right and ability to minimize their exposure to mobile phone radiation.”

Tawkon App on the iPhone showing radiation levels

Still, with acceptable emission levels or not, an increase of radiation near our brains, through something called the “death grip,” is enough to give me the chills.

The post How you hold your phone can hurt you: Death grip increases radiation exposure appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

That’s because Google is bringing back the Nexus One, officially.  To be used as a developer phone. This means that you not every Dick and Jane can buy one, per se, unless they sign up to be a registered Android developer. To get that title, all you have to do is fill out a form and fork out $25.

With that out of the way, you can then proceed to order a developer’s edition of the Google Nexus One for $529, plus shipping. Factoring in the $25 registration, your net price is in the $550 range. That’s not too shabby at all.

The best part is that because the Nexus One is being designated as developer’s phone, it will probably get first dibs on all the new software updates. It ships with Android 2.2, but it’ll probably be the first to get a real full build of Gingerbread.

From Google: “Run and debug your Android applications directly on one of these devices. Modify and rebuild the Android operating system, and flash it onto the phone. The Android Dev Phones are carrier-independent, and available for purchase by developers through their Android Market publisher accounts.”

[Intomobile via Android Developer Site]

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Does this mean that you have no way to buy a Nexus One anymore? No, not at all. If you happen to be living in places like Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and South Korea, there are carriers there that will not only sell you a Nexus One, they’ll subsidize it (with contract). Google is also planning on selling the phone directly to registered Android developers.

If you happen to be reside outside of those countries, you can always turn to those third-party importers to get your hands on a Nexus One instead. Sure, you could just opt for any of the many other Android phones, but remember that the Nexus One was and is the only “official” Google phone. That’s special.

[AndroidAndMe.com]

The post Google sells out of Nexus One smartphones appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

RCS Limited is one of the world’s largest international traders of consumer electronics, including cellular phones. Recently they have seen demand for Google’s Nexus One climb steadily since 2010 started. Just last month demand for the Nexus One was 16% higher than that of the iPhone, according to RCS, and they don’t expect a slow down anytime soon.

“According to the trading data from RCS’ global network, Nexus One is expected to continue to increase its market share in the Smartphone market moving into Q2,” said Rami Feller, President of RCS. “In our opinion, the main factors that lead to the increased demand for Nexus One are the lower unit price compared to other Smarthphones, Google’s unlocked business model and the easy interface with other Google web-based applications.”

Most recently, an Apple internal memo was leaked showing a lift on the requirement of having an AT&T contract before purchasing an iPhone, but that still is nowhere near what Google has done by offering a completely unlocked device.

The post Google Nexus One smartphone is one hot tamale appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Google Nexus One phone headed for Sprint

Sprint today announced they will be a carrier of the Google Nexus One smartphone.  T-Mobile was originally the only carrier to offer an “official” term plan for the Nexus phone at $179 in a two year contract.  Sprint won’t be the only company to carry the Nexus One, yesterday’s announcement told us about Google’s plan to send the phone to AT&T and Rogers Wireless in Canada and an expected addition by Verizon Wireless on March 23rd, but with sales slumping there’s not much of worry on shortages in supply.

The controversy over Google hindering its own sales by competing directly with their partners is rubbish.  If the only phone Google is selling is an unlocked version at the normally exorbitant price of $529, than the only competition would be to the carriers selling unlocked handsets.  Ask your local cellular carrier how many unlocked phones they sell and you will get a good idea about how “competitive” Google is with their partners.  Google’s approach almost appears to be a backward marketing tactic, unleash the Nexus One, but only to early adopters who will pay out for an unlocked handset, after sales slow down send it off to carriers to package and plan as they see fit.  Not bad Google, not bad at all.

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Google Nexus One Phone with Verizon badge

It may not be long before we see Google’s Android phone, dubbed the Nexus One, available on the Verizon Wireless network. If Google adds Verizon to the mix, you and I may get a competitive price – since T-Mobile will have to share their slice of the pie.

The rumor is that on March 23 the Nexus One will be available to Verizon customers, making them the second U.S. wireless carrier to offer Google’s device. March 23 is coincidentally the first day of CTIA tradeshow in Las Vegas, coincidence, or not?

The Nexus One’s slogan reads “Web Meets Phone” which is a classy market position to assume. Let’s breakdown what’s under the hood of this bad boy. It has a sleek tablet shape with a 3.7 inch, WGVA display, 1 GHz snapdragon processor combined with the sought after Android Operating System, 512 MB RAM with a 4 GB Micro SD card (can be upgraded to 32 GB), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and a nifty Digital Compass – just in case the GPS fails and your lost while hiking.

Nexus One comes with a whole suite of Google related applications which continue to grow in numbers each day.

This spring the Nexus One is off to Europe, where it will debut as a VodaPhone product. Rumor has it their release date is April. That means German wireless carrier T-Mobile won’t be the only company with a sole-provider monopoly of Nexus One.

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