Called the Nexus One, the Google phone is coming in January 2010 after Google admitted it had given employees devices to test. The Android operating system device resembles the unlocked HTC Touch, runs Android 2.1 on a Snapdragon chip and has two microphones. There is also reportedly voice to text features for the phone. Google crafted and customized the smartphone’s software and will sell the device online. This is a leap for Google, which has never sold hardware and has been content to furiously upgrade the Android OS and let carriers T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Sprint sell Android phones.

The Google phone is real and it is coming in January 2010 to challenge Apple’s vaunted iPhone, according to a deluge of press reports in the wake of Google’s acknowledgment that a special device with new mobile features and functionality is being tested by its employees.

The Android operating system-based device, which people are calling Nexus One, resembles the unlocked HTC Touch, lacking a physical keyboard. It is also apparently larger and thinner those devices, perhaps coming close to the screen size of the Motorola Droid phone.

The device runs Android 2.1 (the Droid runs Android 2.0) on a Snapdragon chip and has two microphones. There is also reportedly voice to text features for the phone. The Unlockr has pictures of the device here.

Google ignited an avalanche of coverage when it gave devices to employees Friday for dogfooding, part of the company’s test process for soliciting feedback and suggestions. TechCrunch uncovered several tweets from Google employees who raved about the device, even when they were not supposed to discuss it.

“A friend from Google showed me the new Android 2.1 phone from HTC coming out in Jan,” wrote the GreatWhiteSnark in a poetic tweet. “A sexy beast. Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.”

Google felt compelled to respond to questions about whether this so-called Google phone, a device the company is creating with a hardware partner but selling itself as a GSM phone independent of carrier help, Dec. 12.

Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management at Google, wrote in a company blog post:

“We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.”

Given Qeuiroz’ comments, it is quite likely the device is this very same Android Developer Phone 2 in a shadowy picture on the Android Developer Web site here. Google began offering SIM-unlocked gadgets for $399 a year ago this month to let programmers test and debug Android applications.

The Wall Street Journal meanwhile confirmed previous reports and added some details (paywall warning), confirming that it is an HTC-built smartphone upon which Google crafted and customized the software and will sell it online.

This is a leap for Google, which has never sold hardware and has been content to upgrade the Android OS and let carriers T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Sprint sell Android phones. That Google is allegedly eschewing the carrier crutch marks a bold step for the company for which there are many reasons.

Experts believe Google is doing this because Android is fragmenting — too many operating systems and custom firmware builds — and Google wants to make a device with which it is completely satisfied. Om Malik wrote:

Others say Google wants to “own” the device because carriers hew to the competition and and can get downright Draconian about what features run on devices they sell.

For example, the Google phone is expected to feature the company’s Google Voice phone management application. Verizon has said it would support Google Voice, though Apple rejected it from running on its iPhone, which is sold exclusively by AT&T.

Experts expect the iPhone to appear on other carrier networks in 2010; a Google phone such as the Nexus One could facilitate that move.

[via eWeek]

Adobe Systems has promised users of phones running Google’s Android and Palm’s webOS that they will get a browser plug-in with Flash support in the first half of next year.

Those who visit Adobe’s website on a device running either of these operating systems are told to check back next year. The note for Android users says, “Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is coming to Android 2.0 and future releases in the first half of 2010.”

Last month, Adobe promised a beta version of the the webOS software would be released this year; it’s not clear if this is still going to happen. The company also promised a beta for Windows Mobile this year, too.

More about Adobe Flash Player 10.1
In previous years, Adobe has tried to get Flash support onto smartphones with scaled down versions, but not any more. The full version of Flash Player 10.1 will be for desktops running Windows or Mac OS X, as well as for Windows Mobile, webOS, Android, and several other platforms.

It will support sites that use Flash for navigation, as well as Flash video.

This software will take advantage of the capabilities of the devices it is running on, from multi-touch screens to Graphics Processing Units.

Coming to Most Platforms… but Not All
Adobe has committed to bringing Flash support to Android, Symbian, webOS, and Windows mobile in the first half of 2010.

In addition, Adobe and RIM have announced a joint collaboration to bring Flash Player to Blackberry smartphones at some point in the future.

Adobe would like to add Flash support to the iPhone, but has run into a problem. According to a statement from the company, “Adobe needs full support from Apple beyond what is available through the SDK to enable Web browsing of Flash-based content on the iPhone. While we have been working hard to make the browser plug-in available, without increased co-operation from Apple, it will not be possible.”

Video Demonstration
In this video demonstration, Adrian Ludwig from Adobe shows off various websites with Flash Player 10.1 on a Palm Pre running webOS:

[via Brighthand]

Gotta love Open Source, Marvell Technology has already been developing it’s own version of Android and is going to be releasing it on Motorola hardware in China.

HELSINKI, Oct 13 (Reuters) – China Mobile (0941.HK), the world’s largest mobile carrier by subscribers, will next year introduce eight OPhone smartphone models from U.S. phone maker Motorola (MOT.N), a company official told Reuters.

China Mobile unveiled plans last month to sell 3G smartphones using a lower-cost cellphone platform called OPhone, developed by California-based Marvell Technology (MRVL.O), in what it hopes will be a major advance for its 3G service.

Companies that have signed on to make OPhone-based phones so far include mostly smaller names like Dell (DELL.O), the PC heavyweight which chose the platform for its first foray into the handset business.

Marvell has said that mobile carriers in Asia, the United States and Europe are all looking at OPhone-based phones, including U.S.-based AT&T (T.N), whose mobile division has certified the platform for use on its network. [ID:nHKG2728] (Reporting by Tarmo Virki;

[via Reuters]

Dell’s first Android phone, the Mini 3i, was originally a China only release. Of course there were rumors that it might find its way to American shores, but they are rumors no more. Michael Dell has come out and said the Mini 3i will be available in the US early in 2010.

Dell mused on the smartphone market in a speech, saying, “The internet in your pocket … and new platforms that are coming out are pretty interesting. Some of them resemble things that we’re pretty familiar with, in terms of open systems and the ability to compete in an open ecosystem. I think you’ll begin to see us show up there, gradually.”

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Mini 3i would be modified to run on AT&T in the US. With Dell’s admission that the phone is indeed headed stateside, it seems likely that AT&T will get their first Android set in Q1 2010.