Google Nexus Rumored To Cost $530 Or $180 w/Plan 284
wkurzius writes "The new Google phone, the Nexus One, is rumored to cost $530 unlocked and will work on any GSM network. A subsidized version is also available for $180 and will get you a T-Mobile Even More Individual 500 Plan for 2-years with a $350 termination fee. Access to the phone is supposed to be invite only at first, with January 5th being the supposed release date."
Invite only? (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously? Since when the hell is the ability to buy a phone "invite only"? I swear the social aspect of phone ownership is getting ridiculous.
Re:Invite only? (Score:3, Insightful)
Just a marketing gimmick to make people feel elite. Invites will be about as scarce as Gmail invites.
Re:No thanks (Score:4, Insightful)
My whole family gets unlimited messages, data, and 700 minutes with myfaves (two blackberries and a generic nokia) for a little less than twice that.
Then again they are targeting the young male "I have less sense than money" demographic.
Re:No thanks (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember that you have to buy the more expensive smartphone data plans for this phone - usually $30 per month for just the data portion.
The subsidised plan is $80 a month when you take away the price of the phone, so the unsub plan would need to be less than $65 per month to make it cheaper. That's a tough one to get where I live, but it is possible. It's not "vastly cheaper" though. To look at it another way, you need to save at least $15 on the monthly bill to do better with the unsubbed phone. If you're saving $20-25 per month, then you're getting into the "vastly cheaper" area. If you can get a deal like that, I'm extremely jealous regardless of the phone.
Re:So (Score:1, Insightful)
Dude, the actual cost of an iPhone to a retailer is over $900 (in Canada, so it may be less in the states). At $530 with the specs this phone has, Google is already heavily subsidizing the phone out of their own pockets, hence the five per account limit which is still generous. Stop your fucking whining - if you want the phone to last, treat it well.
Re:This is just FUD (Score:1, Insightful)
I fail to see the addition of the following elements:
Fear (no scare tactics, says the release is Jan 5)
Uncertainty (It is listing specific dates, no speak of the boogieman)
Doubt (again, very specific)
While it may be speculative, it certainly isn't FUD. Keep using the term like that, and it will cease to mean anything at all.
Re:Only if it has Google Voice (Score:3, Insightful)
there's already a google voice app in the market. I think you're asking if it will use google voice over IP.
If it allows GV via voip, w/ 3g we might all jump at the chance.
Re:A little more competition is a good thing (Score:5, Insightful)
I think these smart phones have gone far beyond being an 'It' phone. This isn't some hot item that one quickly loses interest in within a few weeks. I bought my first smart phone (an iPhone) a few years ago. I still use it heavily. Having the internet in your pocket is a huge convenience for all sorts of circumstances. The apps are just icing. I use mine 5 times a week at the gym, I look up prices, I check release dates for movies, music, and media, all while I'm out and about. These have real purpose far beyond just being an accessory to one's clothes.
They are essentially a mini-pc in your pocket, and I hardly need to extol the benefits of a PC to this crowd ;)
Re:A little more competition is a good thing (Score:2, Insightful)
Note there are smartphones in the low end too (e.g., the Nokia 5800 I got without contract at £180).
Re:Invite only? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Very disappointing (Score:3, Insightful)
They lost me. After many [slashdot.org], many [gizmodo.com] stories [slashdot.org] about free google cell phones supported by ads how can anyone not be disappointed by the $500 price?
I really don't see how Google thinks they'll sell any. $500+ is a huge bite, and $180 puts it in competition with $199 iPhone 3GS [att.com], so if you're deciding between the iPhone and Nexus price really isn't a factor. Couple that with 126,000+ iPhone apps [appshopper.com] vs 20,000 Android apps [androlib.com] and the fact many Android apps don't run on lower-end Android phones [gomonews.com] doesn't inspire someone to purchase a Android phone.
Google seems to be shooting themselves in the foot, it would take a phone with lots of developer support to topple the iPhone. Only way to get developers is to show them the $$$$ like the iPhone does. Google needs to get the developers paid and make them millionaires like the iPhone does [wired.com]
Re:Invite only? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Very disappointing (Score:4, Insightful)
I do not understand. You're complaining that Google doesn't have some magic fairy dust to sprinkle over the phone so that it costs half as much all of a sudden?
From what I can see, the prices are competitive, and match the established level for smartphones of this caliber. What else do you want?
In what way is an Android phone more limiting? (Score:3, Insightful)
You can buy an N900 for $569.00. As long as you are going to drop that kind of change, why would you limit yourself to an Android fone?
I would turn that around and ask why on earth you would buy anything with a dead-end OS, when you could buy a fully programmable Android device that you can buy a lot more applications for.
The Nokia is nice to use but that's as far as it goes, overall it is not nearly as useful just based on application availability alone.
Re:In what way is an Android phone more limiting? (Score:3, Insightful)
So a Linux-based device using X that supports both Qt and GTK2 toolkits is somehow a dead-end OS?
If and only if you root the thing. I would be surprised, seeing as how it is (optionally) subsidized by T-Mobile, if the Nexus One did not also require being rooted.