Nexus One bolsters Google's advertising ambitions

Google officially unveiled the Nexus One smartphone at a press event Tuesday, concurrently premiering a hosted web store to sell selected devices running its Android mobile operating system. Produced by HTC, the Nexus One--available unlocked for $529 or locked via T-Mobile USA for $179--boasts live, interactive wallpapers, a 3D photo gallery and voice-enabled keyboard alongside Google applications like Gmail, Google Voice and Google Navigation. 

While the Nexus One is attracting most of the attention, the online store may prove to be the more significant announcement, giving Google and its partners a direct-to-consumer channel to sell hardware, multimedia content, Android Market applications and accessories. "The goal of this new consumer channel is to provide an efficient way to connect Google's online users with selected Android devices," writes Google vice president of product management Mario Queiroz on the Official Google Blog. "We also want to make the overall user experience simple: a simple purchasing process, simple service plans from operators, simple and worry-free delivery and start-up."

Most of all, the Nexus One and its storefront will further Google's advertising efforts. "Our primary business is advertising," said Google vice president of engineering Andy Rubin. "A superphone [like Nexus One] is a great way to access the web, and that ... supports our whole business model, which is advertising. This [phone and store] is the next front of our core business." Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney tells ComputerWorld that Google will likely feature third-party advertisements on the web store, adding that the storefront could eventually rival the dominance of online retailers like Amazon: "Today was really less about the Nexus One phone and more about the retail model Google has for selling phones," Dulaney said. Google is "trying to get control of web-based retailing of phones, but if they get control of this, who knows what happens."

For more on Google's Nexus One ambitions:
- read this ComputerWorld article

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