Google Phone / Nexus One makes first Twitter appearance? (update: new pics!)

Look familiar? For a story that broke on Twitter it's only fitting that the first reported picture of the mythical, magical "Google Phone" (AKA, Nexus One) would appear there as well. The tweeted image above appears courtesy of one Cory O'Brien, an account manager at a San Francisco Bay Area marketing agency that does not list Google as a client. That note of caution aside, the image above is an exact match to that leaked HTC Passion / Bravo image from October, only this time lacking the HTC logo on the top-side bezel. Besides the pic, O'Brien tweets that the "Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android." Granted, none of this is confirmed yet, but with Google releasing so many of the devices as part of its "mobile lab" concept, well, we expect to see plenty more sightings in the run up to the rumored January launch.

Update: A quick search for "nexus one" on Google's Picasa photo service reveals several pictures taken with a camera pegged as the HTC Nexus One in the EXIF data. The very first of these geotagged 2592×1944 pixel (that's a 5 megapixel sensor folks, hardly "weirdly large" as described by TechCrunch) images were taken by user Bradley (who just happens to be a Picasa friend to Sergey... hint) in the SF Bay Area on November 27th. A few are clearly lit by an onboard flash as well. In fact, many of the pics appear to be taken from within Google's offices and at Google sponsored events. The quality is not exactly spectacular and that won't likely change in the final product because even Google's bound by the laws of physics when it comes to tiny cellphone sensors.

Update 2: The device seems to have been around earlier with an EXIF identifier of "Phone88." Fortunately, Google's own employees have uploaded pics of the device, by the device, for us to marvel at -- so meta. Check the gallery for the images or a quickie close-up posted after the break.

Nexus One first sample photographs

[Thanks, Alberto and Aaron C.]

[Mr 14 Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:24AM]

Monster Cable sucks.

[ScienceProUSAcom Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:26AM]

@Mr 14 is there a monster cable in that picture I'm missing?

[MichaelF Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:28AM]

@Mr 14

Yes, and flying, blood-sucking unicorns don't exist. I'm not sure what either of these two facts has to do with this post.

[MrPotK Posted Dec 13th 2009 3:53AM]

@Mr 14 +1 sir you make a very good point.

[MaX PL Posted Dec 13th 2009 10:55AM]

I'm tossing my 2 month old 3GS on ebay as soon as this is released.

[Lucas Posted Dec 13th 2009 11:35AM]

@Mr 14 Stop trying too hard

[afrokenjonny Posted Dec 13th 2009 4:47PM]

@(Unverified)
on another note of non sequitur, in the left upper had corner, the person has a box of Gilmore Girls (I can see season 1-4, at least).
Horray

[crappypunk Posted Dec 15th 2009 12:13PM]

@afrokenjonny i'm ashamed u can tell that

[ScienceProUSAcom Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:26AM]

Not bad looking

[eka Posted Dec 13th 2009 4:40AM]

@ScienceProUSAcom plain loking to be exact. whats with the nipple , get rid of that and you have a bigger scren like HD2.

[LowestRanked Posted Dec 13th 2009 7:03AM]

@ScienceProUSAcom

Last week I was able to get my hands on the HD2, I think it is one the nicest looking mobile yet. The specs are amazing, too bad it has winMo. I have been waiting for the droid version of that phone, I wonder if the screen size of this phone will be the same as the HD2. This phone looks beatiful, + I can say this is the phone many people have been waiting for.
-GSM,
-ANDROID (hopefully 2.0)
-MASSIVE 720p screen.
-HTC

[Millah Posted Dec 13th 2009 7:28AM]

@ScienceProUSAcom

Wait so this thing is supposed to be an "iPhone on beautifying steroids?" It looks great and all, but thats not even a close description. More like looks like a Droid Eris on steroids.

[Plexus Posted Dec 13th 2009 9:35AM]

@LowestRanked
I have an HD2 too (and an Hero, and an N97) but I'm ready to ditch the Hero as soon as I can grab this beauty .

[makoute Posted Dec 13th 2009 10:11AM]

@LowestRanked According to Rumors it's suppose to be andoird 2.1

[hectorcorie Posted Dec 13th 2009 10:13AM]

@ScienceProUSAcom Like others, I’d like to see some big push behind Android like Apple does with the iPhone in it’s advertisements, showing how the OS works and what you can do with it. I really hope Android goes big in a big way next year. Opinonated review about Nexus: http://bit.ly/nexus-one-google-phone-photo

[ringuzi Posted Dec 13th 2009 11:16AM]

@ScienceProUSAcom

Honestly I'm not a fan of HTC's phones from a design perspective. They tend to look like generic gray business phones. But the fact that there're so many of them that all feature the same styling, is what really stops any single HTC phones from standing out in the pack. If Google wants this to be their flagship device they either should've had HTC design something radical or they should've chosen another manufacturer. Also lose the damn nipple. I've been using them since the Blackberry curve, and there are better navigation schemes, namely a multitouch screen. The iPhone trumps this by a mile, and even the Droid looks significantly more unique.

[NikAmi Posted Dec 13th 2009 12:03PM]

@ringuzi
This does have a multitouch screen. The scroll ball is so that you can navigate using just one hand rather than having to hold the phone in one hand and scroll with the other. I think that most people would prefer the extra feature rather than lose it and gain nothing.

[doutorpiranha Posted Dec 13th 2009 12:15PM]

@ScienceProUSAcom not great looking either. removing those 4 labels at the bottom would do wonders. still would look meh..but decent. like that? not really...
its really a shame so many powerful people in the world haven't got the slightest design sensibility.
palm pre or iphone look spectacular. i bet they werent a byproduct of engineers, unlike all this htc semicrappy looking stuff...
shame i wanted an android phone...

[cashmonee Posted Dec 13th 2009 12:53PM]

@hectorcorie That is not really possible to for Android as a whole. It would have to be done by manufacturers similar to what Moto did with the Droid.

I actually think that is a fundamental problem with Android. The OS for each handset is different, sometimes even within a manufacturers own product line. There is also no single leap for upgrades. Some handsets are on 1.6, some 2.0, some 2.0.1, etc. This could really hold back Android, if not in sales, definitely in mindshare, among the general public. I know we geeks here are all about different choices and options, but in the marketplace, consistency usually wins out.

[jon Posted Dec 13th 2009 1:54PM]

@doutorpiranha

It's not that those powerful people have no sense of design, it's just that only poor people think that piano black and chrome trim looks good.

[Ariel Bender Posted Dec 13th 2009 3:05PM]

@ScienceProUSAcom: Android @ss clowns in search of a phone that will cure their iPhone envy. World to Google. Drop dead. Search will be free and you will soon be the laughing stock of tech.

[kakashi6992 Posted Dec 13th 2009 5:32PM]

@Plexus lmao an hero was that on purpose?

[Goc Posted Dec 13th 2009 9:59PM]

@LowestRanked
I'm pretty sure no phone has a 720p screen.

[MichaelF Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:26AM]

So would it be safe to assume that when released the Google Phone will bring to T-Mobile all the functionality and coolness that the Droid brought to VZW? (Sans the physical keyboard, of course...) I mean, Google wouldn't allow itself to be outdone by Moto, would it?

[RockNStuff Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:30AM]

@(Unverified) The hype that the Droid got wasn't because of Motorola, it was because Verizon went full throttle, and HYPED THE HECK outta that bad boy.

I doubt that T-Mobile can do that, and even if they some how find a way, it still won't get the same recognition in the tech community, simply because it's not on Verizon.

[MeanSpyvie Posted Dec 13th 2009 3:19AM]

@RockNStuff

It's all about the screen more than the processor even. Droid has a large high res display, but do we know the specs on this one?

[RockNStuff Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:27AM]

Not a jaw dropper, but wouldn't kick it out of bed.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 13th 2009 4:42AM]

@RockNStuff
Idk it looks like the Bravo's red headed stepchild to me

[Millah Posted Dec 13th 2009 7:31AM]

@RockNStuff

Honestly the HD2 is nicer looking than this phone. Definitely not quite as beautiful as the Google employees hyped it up, but its still a nice looking phone. No way in hell does it look like an iPhone on steroids though, lol.

[Proud Japanese Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:38PM]

@RockNStuff
Google should have just used HTC HD2 and put android on it. The HD2 is the nicest looking phone on the market atm. How hard can it be?

[HaZaRd Posted Dec 13th 2009 4:33PM]

@(Unverified)

The HD2 would be such a kick-ass Android phone. I guess that's where the Bravo/Passion/Google Phone/Nexus One comes in though.

[Jagannaathan Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:27AM]

I love Google


p.s. when I say that I strangely recollect the last few lines of 1984

[quasistellar Posted Dec 13th 2009 5:32PM]

@Jagannaathan Foreshadowing. . .? I, for one, welcome my Google overlords.

[Jeff Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:27AM]

Ironic that the pic was taken with an iPhone, no?

[goseki Posted Dec 13th 2009 3:09AM]

@Jeff .. ahh thanks .. that explains mr blurry-cam ..

[MrPotK Posted Dec 13th 2009 3:57AM]

@Jeff "When I grow up, I wanna be an Android" iPhone

[XChrisX Posted Dec 13th 2009 8:39AM]

@Jeff Strange considering this was taken by a Google employee, but considering theres a blackberry on the floor there, and Mr. Eric Schmidt also uses a blackberry, not so much.

[Jeff Posted Dec 13th 2009 10:57AM]

@XChrisX haha, yea i guess

[o29 Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:28AM]

So it's just a developer's Passion? Most of the initial tweets made it sound like it was an entirely new device that hadn't been seen before. And honestly, I'm not a fan of the two tone look at all.

[o29 Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:34AM]

@o29

It should also be noted that the Passion is aesthetically different from the Bravo, which the Engadget article overlooks. The Bravo's dedicated Android buttons appear to be physical buttons unlike the Passion (where they appear to be touch sensitive), and it lacks the two-tone color of the Passion.

[Beastage Posted Dec 13th 2009 1:43PM]

@o29 to summarize , it is "just" another great HTC phone running android, one of many.

Too much hype over nothing.

[therodt Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:29AM]

somebody is fired!

[Gerusz Posted Dec 13th 2009 12:07PM]

@therodt No, these "leaks" are sooooooooo planned.

[XciteMe Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:32AM]

In a few days that guy (in the pic) will have mysteriously "committed suicide" by "jumping" out of a window. Use air quotes as you say it out loud.

[MrPotK Posted Dec 13th 2009 3:58AM]

@XciteMe And the Street-View team will be there to see it all.

[ChazClout Posted Dec 13th 2009 11:25AM]

@XciteMe
As long as his family get a Macbook as "compensation" then I'm sure they won't mind the "suicide".

[Crabs Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:34AM]

Haha, I saw this like 15 minutes ago and was about to send in the link, and noticed it on the front page. You're one step ahead, E.

[Siddharth Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:37AM]

@Crabs
me too!

[MrPotK Posted Dec 13th 2009 4:01AM]

@Crabs Yeah, me too. I saw the Redmond Pie post. Those Euro`s are just too damn quick to make me feel useful.

[Siddharth Posted Dec 13th 2009 2:38AM]

i think it looks gorgeous.. hope it has the hardware specs to match..