A Nexus Two Smartphone From Samsung? Fuhgeddaboutit!
There are at least as many reasons to doubt the accuracy of the latest Nexus Two rumor -- which has Samsung building a successor to Google's Nexus One flop -- as there are reasons to believe. Google and Samsung aren't talking, but they're perhaps the only ones in the smartphone sector who aren't. The consensus? Don't hold your breath.
Samsung is reported to be working on the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Nexus Two smartphone that will run Gingerbread, the latest version of the Android operating system.
However, Samsung's website indicates it will debut the Focus, a Windows Phone 7 handset, on that date. It will be available from AT&T (NYSE: T).
Neither Samsung nor Google responded to TechNewsWorld's requests for comment by press time.
The Nexus Two Rumors
'Very approximate' mockup of Samsung's rumored Nexus Two. Credit: Gizmodo
The screen reportedly is the same 4-inch AMOLED used in the Samsung Galaxy S. It's flat, while the front is reportedly somewhat concave.
The phone feels similar to Samsung's Galaxy S and has a front-facing camera, according to Gizmodo, and it runs a stock build of Android.
There's speculation the Nexus Two will run Gingerbread, the latest version of the Android operating system, which is set to launch soon.
Freedom's Just Another Word
The prognosis for an unlocked smartphone doesn't look hopeful in the United States, if what happened to the Nexus One is any indication.The Nexus One, which was offered directly to the end-user by Google without any ties to carriers, failed spectacularly. Google pulled the phone shortly after launching it. Only a few hundred Nexus Ones were sold, and most of its users are app devs.
"The Nexus One didn't do well on its own without carrier support, so I think this would be a tough road," Chris Hazelton, a research director at the 451 Group, told TechNewsWorld. "Still, I'd like to see Google try to push through another direct-to-end-user smartphone with some kind of subsidy model, through advertising or something similar."
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is planning to offer a direct-to-consumer iPhone in Europe and is reported to be negotiating with various carriers there.
"I don't know how it would work in terms of connecting between carriers and setting up roaming agreements," Hazelton said. "Still, there's a significant benefit to ripping out a SIM card and putting in a new one for a different carrier on the fly -- savings on your phone bills will be high."
Google's Possible Dance Partners
It's questionable whether using a generic Android user interface or making a generic Google smartphone would be in Samsung's best interests."Right now, smartphone vendors have all been trying to differentiate themselves with unique user interfaces, and Samsung's hot phone now is the Galaxy," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. "Why would it want to bring out a generic Google phone under the Google brand? Samsung wants to build loyalty to its own brand."
On the other hand, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) might be willing to play ball with Google.
"Motorola might do something like this because it has a much higher degree of desperation and is trying to find something that works for it in an elastic fashion," Enderle suggested.
"Motorola's not that hard-nosed about building its own brand. But I think that building the Nexus One would be a mistake for Motorola, because Google would get all the brand loyalty," he remarked.
Perhaps HTC, which built the Nexus One, might work on its successor.
"Despite the trouble HTC had with selling the Nexus One, it was a great device which worked really, really well," Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC, told TechNewsWorld. "Plus, HTC has had lots of experience working with Google in the past."
HTC has several smartphones in the market that don't use its own TouchSense user interface, he pointed out.
Furthermore, it's likely that the Nexus Two will be a high-end device, and HTC "does very good high-end devices," Llamas said. "Why would Google want to step down to a mid-range or low-end device with the Nexus Two?"
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