Tyrell: Would you… like to be upgraded?
Batty: I had in mind something a little more radical.
Tyrell: What seems to be the problem?
Batty: Death.
Tyrell: Death; ah, well that’s a little out of my jurisdiction.
— Blade Runner
Sprint Nextel will sell the Google Nexus One phone and will also unveil its first WiMAX handset next week.
No availability date or pricing details were released for Sprint’s Nexus One, but the operator claimed that its CDMA EV-DO 3G network offers “ten times the network coverage of T-Mobile” (by square miles).
The Supersonic WiMAX phone, based on HTC’s Supersonic is expected to run Google’s Android 2.1 software with HTC’S Sense user interface on top of it, and have a 4.3-inch touchscreen display, a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and a 5-megapixel camera.
Sprint already offers two Android devices; the Samsung Moment and HTC Hero. The Nexus One will only be available to Sprint customers directly from Google online (and not via any Sprint retail channels). Google this week also started selling a Nexus One that will run on AT&T’s 3G network. Google’s Nexus One is also available for T-Mobile USA.
The Sprint deal means that Verizon Wireless is the only major US operator not yet supporting the Nexus One, although reports suggest a Verizon version could be unveiled at the CTIA event next week. Verizon, of course, has the Motorola Droid.
The Nexus One, (without a 2-year contract), costs $529 through Google. It hasn’t set the world on fire.
Incidently, The Oregonian’s Mike Rogoway notes that Google’s bid for a trademark on its Nexus One has been denied by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Last week the agency declared that the name was too similar to a trademark held by Portland-based Integra Telecom and their Nexus® integrated T1 services.
Meanwhile, the family of Philip K. Dick considers Verizon’s Droid too similar to the language in “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”.
