With apologies for clichés aside, comparisons between the iPhone 3G and Google’s HTC Nexus One are a little bit apples and oranges because some aspects of the iPhone’s usability will be nigh on impossible to better whilst the Nexus One has invaluable features, such as background applications that the iPhone can’t see for dust.
The main hardware features of the Nexus One:
Display: 3.7-inch AMOLED 480×800 WVGA display (iPhone display is slightly smaller at 3.5-inch)
Width: 11.5mm
Weight: 130g
Processor/Speed: Qualcomm Snapdragon 3G QSD8250 chipset, delivering speeds up to 1GHz
Camera: 5 megapixel, auto focus with flash and geo tagging
Onboard memory: 512MB Flash, 512MB RAM
Expandable memory: 4GB removable SD Card (expandable to 32GB) (iPhone memory is fixed but begins at 16GB and runs to 32GB)
Noise suppression: Dynamic noise suppression from Audience, Inc.
Ports: 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack with four contacts for inline voice and remote control
Battery: Removable 1400 mAh (iPhone battery is non-removable)
Personalised laser engraving: Up to 50 characters on the back of the phone
Trackball: Tri-colour notification LED, alerts when new emails, chats, text messages arrive (nice touch, the iPhone simply has a static home button.)
Nexus One software (Eclair) highlights:
· Google Maps navigation: Offering turn-by-turn driving directions with voice output
· Email: Multiple Gmail accounts; universal inbox and Exchange support
· Phone book: Aggregate contacts from multiple sources, including Facebook
· Quick Contacts: Easily switch between communication and social applications
· Android Market: Access to more than 18,000 applications (Smaller than App Store, but with the open developer opportunity to grow without limits.)
Enter text without typing.
Use a voice-enabled keyboard for all text fields: Speak a text message, instant message, tweet, Facebook update, or complete an email.
Tell your phone what you want it to do.
Search Google, call contacts, or get driving directions by just speaking into your phone.
Take personalisation to the next level.
· Dynamic, interactive, live wallpapers react to the touch of a finger (Interesting but not game changing.)
· More widgets and five home screen panels allow for further device customisation
· Capture camera-quality pictures and video with your device
· 5 megapixel camera includes LED flash, auto focus, zoom, white balance and colour effects (Definitely superior to the iPhone 3G S’s 3-megapixel non-flash camera.)
· View pictures and Picasa web albums in the new 3D Gallery
· Record hi-res MPEG4 video, and then upload to YouTube with one click
Read your voice-mail messages.
· Get transcribed voice mail with Google Voice integration, without changing your number
By Marie Boran
Photo: Google’s HTC Nexus One smart phone
