It did that through many ways, probably too numerous to name here, but ease of use, a simplified interface for using and expanding the device (through apps), and touch (versus pen) interactions are among those changes.

What makes you say that? Can you elaborate/explain please?

Apple did a great thing by changing perceptions, but they also have a locked in mindset on how to do certain things… the venerable (debatable?) Apple Way.

Google can thank Apple for pointing the way and pioneering, but still poke around the edges of where the Apple Way falls down and come out of it with a huge success.

The kerfluffle over the Apple App Store or the ability to add apps without visiting the App Store are just two examples. Google can go a lot further with this.

Also, never forget, Google as a Content and Applications company (and not a hardware company) probably has an edge when it comes to agility. They can move quicker to round out its handsets (Nexus and otherwise) than Apple probably can.

The nice thing about the Nexus is that it will probably slow down some of the Android handset feature fracturing that has been going on. Come to think of it, it is another example of an agile move given that Android phones have only been out for something like 18 months.

PS… Please implement a subscribe to follow ups via email so we can keep the conversation going…

“If consumers have a choice between X, Y, and Z, and Apple aren’t in that market, Apple are all in favour of making it as easy as possible for them to choose whichever one”

…To…

“If consumers have a choice between X, Y, and Z, and Apple aren’t in that market, Apple are all in favour of totally not giving a shit about them”

Was that wrong? I wish it was.

I’m sorry, what?

May I correct that please?

“Apple are all in favour of consumer choice as long as the consumer’s choice is between Apple, Apple, Apple or Apple.”

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/01/nexus-one-review.ars/1

• Google want to set the standard for what a good Android phone is (quality, design, features, software)
• They want to use their very powerful brand to make fairly unkown producers like HTC or maybe some chinese manufacturers a instant hit with consumers (the Nexus One is just a HTC phone sold by Google)
• they want to have control over software updates ( so that things like the Samsung Galaxy that seems stuck at Android 1.5 wont happen)
• they want to make the carriers just dumb pipes in the long run, Google is in this for the long run and carriers being dumb pipes is very good for Google.
• they want hype and free marketing (like everyone else really)

I think Google wants to provide a store where consumers can buy a variety of good supported Android phones and where you have good price transparency and different carriers to choose from and take way a lot of the worry that comes from the massive amount of different Android phones (see paradox of choice) This will migitate the problems we see in the Windows world with the varying quality.

I guess Chrome OS computers could be sold similarly.

It’d also be nice if it started a trend of direct-sale of unlocked phones, but I won’t hold my breath on that one. For now, I’ll just be happy that T-Mobile is happy to give you an unlock code upon request after 3 months (or immediately if you buy a phone from them without a subsidy).

You more or less answered your own question there, Aq. “…Its just a nice thing that Google is, at least theoretically, on our side…”

Apple didn’t do it, because they are not on our side. Consumer lock-in IS Apple, it is a massive part of their DNA, you see it going on in almost every aspect of Apples activities. It would probably take the death of their CEO to change this – and even then it is a long shot.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8451473.stm

Get it together chaps!

It’s about six bucks to get a telephone number with skype.

So I can have google voice call my skype number and connect me with any other telephone in the U.S. without charge. It’s pretty awesome.

When I click on the button on the Google web site to order a phone I get a message “I am sorry that this product is not available in your country”. I can’t understand why that should be the case. Why is Google discriminating against Irish people?

I know that I could get a friend in another country to order on my behalf and then ship it to me, but I don’t want to go to such lengths to give money to a company who does not want to sell to me

http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20070720_wireless.html

http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/07/fcc-sets-700mhz-auction-rules-limited-open-access-no-wholesale-requirement.ars

It was because Apple couldn’t have done some of the original iPhone features had they been agnostic. Like visual voicemail for example. At the time it was unheard of to have a voice mail that didn’t suck and for Apple to fix it involved the carrier changing their voice mail back end to work a new modern way just for the iPhone.

Apple were never going to release a phone that was just like all the others but prettier, it had to be a game changing or they needn’t bother, so in the end partnering with someone was their only option to offer all the features.

If rumours are to be believed, AT&T was not Apple’s first choice carrier, but Verizon turned them down because they refused to allow Apple to dictate these changes needed to give a better experience. A choice I’m sure they have nightmares over even to this day.

Had it been $199 (or even $299) that the rumour mill was reporting, it would have set a million geek in motion (me included)…

Having read the in-depth reviews, unless Google does something very big and very soon, the Nexus will be just another Android phone.

My contract’s up a few months and in a straight shoot-out, the Motorola Droid (Milestone in the UK) beats the Nexus in many areas, and will be my next Android phone unless Google get their act together…

To really make the carriers into must a bit-pipe I can see goggle bulk-buying bandwidth and having their own billing system. This could improve coverage; especially 3G (which is important because the per-bit costs are much less) by google having relationships with many carriers within one country. i.e. you would always be roaming – but the costs would actually be reasonable for once.

Having a large number of users, and massive amount of traffic that they could switch traffic between carriers at will and this would give google huge bargaining power.

And strong carrier relationships might have other advantages. I know that apple with visual voicemail and their mobile push was the first company to really integrate inside a telco network. Google clearly doesn’t need that tech as it has google voice. But what could google do with access to cell-tower triangulation (send you ads for shops you go past?), or free SMS (very low power push notifications to improve battery life?)

And what if google bought some mobile spectrum and subsidised femtocells.

It will be very interesting to see how google push into this market. Perhaps it is not whether the Nexus One an iPhone killer but instead how plausible that google is a telco killer.