Google Nexus Two Talk Takes Off
NEW YORK (
) --
(GOOG) - Get Report
seems to have enlisted
Samsung
in its fitful Nexus venture as word of a Nexus Two phone buzzes through the blogsphere.
The Nexus Two is said to resemble Samsung's Galaxy S lineup, with a 4-inch screen and front- and rear-facing cameras, according to an
citing a source who handled the new Nexus phone briefly.
|
If the report is accurate, this will mark Google's second try at making a phone to its own specifications so it can sell directly to consumers.
It was a year ago when
TheStreet
broke the news that
Google was crashing the Android party
with a phone of its own to compete against the telcos' phone offerings.
The first Nexus, or Nexus One, was built for Google by
HTC
. While it received a lot of attention in the tech community, sales were less than stellar. It sold for $179 with a two-year
T-Mobile
contract or $529 unlocked for use on GSM networks.
sales effort in May amid the rising success of Android phones at
Verizon
(VZ) - Get Report
,
Sprint
(S) - Get Report
and T-Mobile.
For Google, the Nexus One effort seemed to be an attempt to hold telcos to a full-featured phone standard. If so, it worked. Wireless carriers curbed the urge to omit Android features like Google Navigation, which as a free offering, cut into the pay navigation services the telcos hoped to sell.
The notion that Google has plans to sell phones directly to consumers again comes at a time when
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
is preparing a world phone version of the iPhone that can work on any U.S. and European network.
The idea, quite possibly, is that Google and Apple want to bypass the carriers and sell devices independently, a move that would be seen as disruptive to the telcos' current 2-year-contract model. As software companies, Google and Apple no doubt see opportunities in mobile applications and services that may conflict with the business aims of the carriers.
--Written by Scott Moritz in New York.>To contact this writer, click here: Scott Moritz, or email: scott.moritz@thestreet.com.To follow Scott on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/TheStreet_Tech.>To send a tip, email: tips@thestreet.com.









