Android Atlas

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Just last week, the Motorola Droid got partial multitouch support with Google Maps 3.4, but that was little consolation for Droid customers who still had to look on in jealously as Nexus One owners got to enjoy multitouch in the browser and photo gallery as well as Google Goggles support. Well, retract your claws Droid owners because it now looks you're getting the whole shebang too.

On Monday, Motorola announced on its Facebook page that the Android 2.1 update will start to roll out this week. According to Engadget Mobile, the update won't bring live wallpaper or the grid app icon, but the Droid will get the new weather and news widget featured on the Nexus One.

Also of interest is the mention of upcoming announcements for Moto's other Android devices. The company's full Facebook post reads, "Hi all--we know you are frustrated with the lack of details regarding Android software upgrades and we sincerely apologize for not being able to share info sooner. We're happy to relay the 2.1 upgrade to DROID will start to roll out this week, and we will have more information to share on other device upgrades later this week as well. Thanks for your patience and continued support."

Perhaps Motorola Cliq owners will finally see the Android 2.0 update that Moto CEO Sanjay Jha mentioned at CES 2010. The fragmentation of the Android platform among various devices has been a sticking point with many, and it seems Moto feels the frustration too, so kudos to it for getting the info out there.

This probably isn't the best shot of the Nexus One's car dock, but it's all we have so far.

(Credit: Google/YouTube)

We knew that a Nexus One car dock was coming. Google has already released a slick-looking desktop dock. And when you consider that the Nexus One is preloaded with a very robust turn-by-turn navigation app with a dedicated in-car interface, a car dock seems like the next logical step. However, Google's been fairly tight-lipped with the details surrounding it.

So, we were surprised to see what appears to be the actual Nexus One car dock pop up at the one-minute mark in the latest in a series of Nexus One promotional videos from Google. It's not a particularly good shot, but it's the best look we've gotten so far at what appears to be the real deal.

(Via These Are the Droids)

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Google released an over-the-air update for the Nexus One on Tuesday that brought, among other things, multitouch and Google Maps 3.4 to the smartphone. This is great news for Nexus One owners, but what about the rest of the Android family?

Well, here's some partial good news for Motorola Droid customers. Google Maps 3.4 is now available for download through the Android Market, which brings star syncing, personalized page suggestions based on personal history, night mode, and yes, the use of pinch-to-zoom.

For now, it seems the multitouch capabilities are limited to just Google Maps, but hey, it's a step in the right direction, right?

(Source: Engadget Mobile)

(Credit: Seesmic)

We've always liked the free Seesmic Twitter app for the desktop (Windows | Mac), but one of our biggest complaints when Seesmic crossed over to the mobile world has been the Twitter client's lack of support for multiple accounts. This is no longer an issue, a Thursday night update to Seesmic for Android now makes it possible to manage more than one Twitter persona.

We tried out Seesmic's latest version, 1.2, on Google's Nexus One. Logging into one account was easy, but adding a second (or third, or hundredth) account takes an extra step of pulling up the Options menu (the soft key to the right of the back arrow on the Nexus One; a hard Menu key on various other handsets) and clicking "Add account." You can make any account your default, and can skip between accounts from the Options menu.

The logic of multiple accounts also rears up when you post an update. You'll post to the account from which you're composing by default, but tap a button to cross-post your update to any other account.

Seesmic has thrown in a handful of other changes as well. Our favorite is Seesmic's status composer auto-correcting and auto-capitalizing sentences. The app also picks up in the time line where you left off and fixes several bugs. So far, the updated Seesmic looks and acts slick on the Nexus One, though an option button on the interface could make switching between active accounts even smoother than going through the menu.

The surface of our Google Nexus one is smooth and unblemished, and the cracks are only visible under the surface of the glass.

(Credit: Crave UK)

They say never to leave a candle or a baby unattended. In our case, that's just extended to one of our favorite smartphones.

We left our Google Nexus One charging on a desk during lunch Friday. When we returned, the screen was rife with hairline cracks and a horrible purple bruise had spread across the gorgeous AMOLED touch screen.

There was no evidence that the phone had been moved, and the screen doesn't have any scratches or marks on the surface. The thin cracks all appear to be under the glass -- as if the phone had been bent, but not broken.

Read more of "Nexus One cracked screen: How did our Google phone break?" at Crave UK.

Google isn't marching into consumer electronics; it's tentatively dipping its toes.

For Google, the Nexus One is more than just a phone.

(Credit: CNET)

When word of the Nexus One smartphone broke, the consensus was that Google was about to challenge Apple for the high end of the mobile phone market. One month after its launch, it's clear that an awful lot will have to change before Google can truly be considered a viable competitor.

It's not that there's anything lacking from the Nexus One. It's easily the best Android phone produced to date, and CNET editors recently decided it outranked the iPhone 3GS, Apple's best iPhone to date.

But making a great phone is only part of the puzzle. Google has given itself quite a task: It's attempting to overthrow the established multibillion-dollar mobile phone business model. In a presentation in early January, Google rolled out the Nexus One and a Web store where it is selling the phone directly to the consumer, in the hopes that one day it can create an open market for phones and carriers.

Google's Andy Rubin cautioned that day that revolutions take time, and that Google had to enter the game itself before it could start changing the rules. It's hard to tell whether Nexus One customers are opting for the unsubsidized version of the phone or the T-Mobile two-year contract version, as Google declined to release sales data on the Nexus One this week. So it's not clear yet whether consumers are interested in joining Google at the barricades. But if Google really wants to make this experiment work, it's going to have to do a much better job explaining to people why its approach is better.

For every mobile phone owner seething about two-year contracts and locked phones, there are lots of others who simply want to buy a phone that works from a name they trust while traipsing through the mall on a Saturday afternoon. Those people aren't stupid, and they aren't lemmings, they just don't want to deal with complexity.

Consider the largest problem Google has had to deal with in the first month of the Nexus One: a customer support system overwhelmed by early adopters seeking information about shipping delays and glitches. In a way, it's evidence of demand for the product and Google's business model. But in a more telling way, it's evidence of Google's failure to recognize that its typical "launch early, iterate constantly" strategy doesn't fly when people shell out money: they want what they bought to just work out of the box, and they want answers when it doesn't. And these are the early adopters, the people who are enthusiastic about technology and what Google's presence might mean to the mobile phone market.

Google's success in search has much to do with the fact that the company focused on making the entire experience as simple and as user-friendly as possible. For some reason, it forgot those lessons when it introduced its first consumer product that actually costs money.

To Google's credit, it is showing that it's willing to make changes when they are needed. The company is planning to hire someone to design a phone support system for the Nexus One that will probably be just as annoying as every other phone support system but will provide the valuable service of giving customers the opportunity to make themselves heard. And if Google can actually find a better way to provide technical support over the phone--a low bar for such an innovative company--it will have a real selling point for its Nexus One experiment.

But that brings up the second issue: is Google willing to sell the Nexus One? I'm not talking about the physical infrastructure required to collect payments and distribute inventory: I'm talking whether or not Google is willing or able to create emotional appeals designed to get people to change the way they buy phones.

Apple's success with the iPhone can be traced to two equally important factors: it created a great product, and made people want to buy it with clever marketing. Google and its partners have figured out the first part, but it's not clear that Google understands how to do the second part.

Are small text ads enough to build awareness of a game-changing sales strategy?

(Credit: Screenshot by Tom Krazit/CNET)

Google is trying: it's hard to miss the AdWords ads for the Nexus One if you've used Google in the past month. But while Google itself is testament to the efficacy of search advertising, search advertising alone is not enough to get a new concept like the Nexus One off the ground, not when Apple, Research in Motion, Palm, Samsung, HTC, and even Microsoft are bombarding consumers with advertising for their products. And that's before you even consider the marketing done by wireless carriers.

If Google really wants to change the way phones are sold, it's going to have to convince the public why. It's actually not that difficult a message to craft, but Google has to take that message to the people in a venue that's larger than a small box alongside search results: "You can't position a brand with keywords," said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz on her company's last earnings call, and while she has a vested interest in making that statement, it happens to be true.

However, this is a real problem for Google, which is still trying to spread Android far and wide with partners such as HTC, Motorola, Verizon, and others who like the way phones are sold at the moment. Google certainly has the resources to create a big marketing campaign, but Android partners for whom phones are their entire business--not an interesting sideline--may not be all that crazy about competing for air time against Nexus One.

And Google does not have much experience with advertising to the general public, if at all. It is involved in marketing programs for Android phones such as the Droid and MyTouch, but selling a concept is more difficult than selling a shiny phone.

Handicapping Google's Nexus One strategy this early is a little unfair. But Google will have to make some tough decisions in 2010: Does it attempt to reach its goal of changing the way phones are sold by aggressively promoting its vision while risking the alienation of its partners? Does it bow to reality and settle for making Android the best it can be in the current system, with the Nexus One and subsequent devices as rare concept cars designed to show off what Android can do, rather than mass-market products?

Google has a chance to do amazing things to the mobile phone market. But the first duty of a revolutionist is to get away with it.

We cheated a little, but we couldn't wait until Google flipped the switch to deliver this week's software update to our Nexus One. We just had to have that mutlitouch, so we grabbed the update online and loaded it on our phone. It involves a few steps (Android Forums has an easy guide), but we were all set after about five minutes.

Indeed, the addition of multitouch fixes one of the Nexus One's biggest flaws. We gave it a spin and were impressed by just how well it worked. Like on the iPhone and the Droid Eris, we could zoom in on a Web page or Google map by spreading our fingers or by double tapping. And to zoom out, we pinched our fingers together. The motion was smooth and we experienced no lag time or jerky effects. Now we just need that feature on all Google Android phones.

Beyond multitouch the update added the Google Goggles feature, which suggests Web pages based on photographs you take of an object or text with the Nexus One's camera. It is relatively effective, though it is not without its limitations. After photographing a National Geographic cover, we got a number of relevant suggestions, though most were in Japanese. Also, when we took a photo of the Australian flag, it suggested only links for the United Kingdom flag. That's close enough, we guess.

Google also promised that the update will fix the widespread 3G issues with the Nexus One. We haven't had any problems on that front, so we're not noticing an improvement so far. In the Google Maps feature, you'll also get a night mode, search suggestions, and syncing of your favorite places between your phone and your computer.

And while you're reading about the Nexus One, why not check out our Prizefight between it and the iPhone 3GS?

Motorola Devour

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

Though we always want to be amazed with new phone releases, occasionally a cell phone manufacturer will unveil a device that feels lackluster. At first glance, the new Motorola Devour appears to be that type of phone, but upon closer inspection, it promises to hold its own in Verizon Wireless' lineup. Rather than releasing a successor to the popular Droid, the Devour aims lower as an entry-level device.

A few things about the Devour distinguish it from other Google Android handsets. Though it's Verizon's third Android device, it's the carrier's first handset to feature MotoBlur, which currently is available on T-Mobile's Moto Cliq. The Droid runs the stock Android 2.0 interface, while the Droid Eris has HTC's Sense.

The Droid and Devour have similar design elements--both are rectangular with slide up QWERTY keyboards--but there are subtle differences between the two. For example, the Droid's camera is 5-megapixel and has autofocus and a flash. The Devours camera, by comparison, is 3-megapixel; however, it does not have a flash and it has a fixed focus lens. Both phones offer video capture; however, the Droid records at the considerably better 720x480-pixel resolution.

For memory, the Devour comes with an 8GB microSD card while the Droid offers a 16GB card. For navigation, the Devour has a touch-sensitive navigation pad below the display, but the directional key on the Droid is tucked away with the keyboard.

For reasons unknown, this Devour is not being marketed under the Droid series for Verizon. Yet, CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast suggested Wednesday that dropping the Droid moniker might be due to licensing fees associated with the trademark. It also could be to avoid potential confusion between the two handsets. According to Business Insider, Verizon is "fine tuning" their long-term strategy for the Droid line.

Though the Devour is less powerful than the Droid, I believe it will still find an audience. For people graduating from basic handsets to smartphones, it will make a great transition device. MotoBlur's universal in-box, the Happenings widget, and social network integration will give users more connection than they are used to having. With more than 20,000 applications available for download, the phone is fun, practical, and unique.

Currently, the Devour is loaded with Android 1.6. Yet, I expect to see it pick up the same update headed to T-Mobile's Cliq before long. Although Verizon has not announced a price, a rumored $99 to $149 price point coupled with Verizon's customer base, could do well to keep Android's market share moving in the right direction.

Greetings, sports fans. We're proud to present another cell phone Prizefight. This time we threw the iPhone 3GS into the ring with the new kid on the smartphone block, the Google Android-equipped Nexus One from HTC.

It goes without saying that each of these handsets packs a powerful punch. The iPhone excels at multimedia and is compatible with thousands of apps, but the Nexus One counters with a fast processor and multitasking. And just this week the Nexus One gained multitouch support in a software update.

We promise you: this is an epic battle. So, to see it for yourself, check out the video and the full Prizefight.