Google Phone mania has hit the Webberlands. If the rumors are to be believed, Google is on the verge of introducing its own mobile phone called the Nexus One. It will be built by HTC, use Android 2.x, be available for use with any U.S.-based GSM network (like T-Mobile's or AT&T's), and be sold directly by Google starting in January.
This story all started with TechCrunch's insistence on the gPhone's existence a few weeks ago, and then got ignited by a handful of tweets from Google employees over the weekend. Like this one:
A friend from Google showed me the new Android 2.1 phone from HTC coming out in Jan. A sexy beast. Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.
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From there, the story snowballed. Citing "people familiar with the matter," the Wall Street Journal has given its stamp of approval to the basics outlined above.
There are even pictures of the phone which -- surprise -- looks identical to the HTC Passion, which has been out for a while. Some wags have even suggested the Nexus will cure all known diseases and replace Viagra as a recreational drug of choice. (We think maybe they were kidding.)
All Google has had to say on the matter was that they were feeding their employees a diet of "Android dogfood" over the holidays. HTC has said even less.
So let's assume all of the above is true. Here's what I want to know.
