Nexus One to sell as Google Phone after all?
updated 12:55 pm EST, Tue December 29, 2009
T-Mobile, FCC hint no HTC label at all
The Nexus One may simply appear as the Google Phone when it's offered for sale early next month based on a slew of leaks. T-Mobile's internal system supports earlier rumors that Google will sell the Android device only through its website starting from January 5th at 9AM. It wouldn't have the HTC badge, according to TmoNews, and T-Mobile would only support the phone by providing cellular service.
At the same time, an FCC filing's test report for the Nexus One's Bluetooth car dock has also shown that the "trade name," or the name used in public, will simply be "Google Phone" and bear no relation to the Nexus One name seen by Google staff or even the phone's original Dragon codename.
While the possibility remains that the phone is just a device for Android developers like the Dev Phone 1 and Dream, it's implied that Google plans a high-profile launch that would be uncharacteristic of the normally limited-run smartphones. The possibility still remains of a more conventional on-contract version as Google has recently filed for a Nexus One trademark.
Any directly branded phone may prove controversial, as Google has previously said it wouldn't betray partners by releasing a device under its own name. It also faces possible conflict with Apple as it will not only produce a mobile OS but the phone to accompany it, setting itself up as a competitor to Apple with a similar top-to-bottom business model even as it provides services like the Google Maps API and search to the iPhone.
