Allegedly leaked Nexus One purchase page answers, raises questions (update: we've got the terms of sale)
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted December 29th 2009 9:02PM
posted December 29th 2009 9:02PM
One thing that caught our eye is a mention of personalization -- you'll be able to get the phone engraved, something that we've been able to independently confirm through another tipster of ours. It looks like you can do two lines of text on a metallic bar on the back of the device... just don't expect to return it if you do (seriously, it says right in the terms of service that you're married to that thing if you get it etched).
To be perfectly honest, it's hard to say if this is the real deal or not. We don't get why Google would want to lock you into a single plan, nor do we fully understand why you would need to activate your phone via the website (as shown in the grab). Of course, the big G sometimes works in mysterious ways -- perhaps they're going for a little Apple magic here with restrictive plans and draconian ideas about how you can use the phone. It wouldn't be surprising given the timing of the company's little event next week. Don't worry, all will be revealed soon enough.
Update: Well what do you know. We've just been hit with a few photos of our own, apparently straight from HTC training materials, according to a tipster. And what else? Oh yes -- a PDF of the terms of sale, which you can download and view right here.
i def have to buy this phone unclocked so i can use it for at&t
i know it doesn't support the ATT 3G bands, but this phone is too damn good to pass up
@Yankees Win
Really? This phone will be useless on EDGE. I know seeing as how I have an iPhone and it's only useful when I'm on 3G. On EDGE everything slows to grinding halt. It takes FOREVER to do the most simple of tasks on my phone when I'm on AT&T's EDGE.
Which is why it angers me when I see those stupid ass Luke Wilson commercials about how AT&T reaches 300 million people...
I'm sorta hoping Verizon comes back with how many people they reach with full 3G service vs AT&T's 3G service.
Anyways this phone would nice to have on AT&T (aside from it's ugliness) but the fact that it won't work on AT&T's 3G is what ruins it for me...
@Yankees Win Don't worry, it isn't like you will see too much of T-Mobile's 3G. So, to EDGE or not to EDGE, AT&T or T-Mobile are the same response.
I really wish T-MObile will get some steroids and grow big and strong and give us those 3G airwaves in more places. This phone is worth it !!! (Sponsored by L'Oreal)
@TheCodexAlera
I dunno, I have a MyTouch and I've always found it to be perfectly usable on Edge. Sure, 3G is nicer, but it's absolutely nowhere near worthless when it drops to the slower connection. I had a G1 for like six months before 3G was available in my area and I thought it was the best phone ever, I used the connectivity all the time and it was never frustrating or unusable.
@Yankees Win And just to clear up the difference in pricing and why a $530 Nexus is cheaper than a $180 Nexus (or iPhone):
($80 V/T/W * 24 months) + $180 = $2100
($40 V/T (+ $10 for W)) + $530 = $1730
@TikiTeko It all depends on where you are. Here in my neck of the woods in SoCal, I have 3G on T-Mobile almost all the time.
And in my experience, as well as talking to others who have AT&T, AT&T's EDGE is a POS.
@Yankees Win
Yeah perhaps EDGE (or w/e T-Mo calls it) is better with T-Mo but it's absolutely garbage on AT&T. Which is the reason why I made absolutely sure that I got reliable 3G service on my iPhone 3GS before I kept it.
@Butler I still have a Sony TM506 3G and I am on EDGE all the time but I can say it is not THAT BAD... IM is as if on 3G and with Opera Mini 5 the pages load decently quick. I have a Tilt2 (which is going back) but I am on 3G all the time. It is quiet good.
@Yankees Win
Why get a nexus 1 on ATT with no 3g when you can have an iphone 3gs than runs on 3g? Seems like a dumb move to me.
@mo208048
Because he's not buying an iPhone. Its a matter of his preference of Android over iPhone OS. And there is the matter of the 1ghz Snapdragon...I myself will be buying one, as i am currently locked into contract for another 6 months, and i live in an area where there is no AT&T 3G, so buying an iPhone is useless for me. I have wifi in my house and my dorm at school, and i currently use a G1 on edge which works perfectly fine. So for me (and alot of others who dont live in 3G areas), the advantage lies in being able to get cheaper data with an unlocked phone, and the much faster processor in the Nexus One.
@Yankees Win
If you don't mind ATT, of course get an iPhone 3GS. Android is, at best, a pale imitation with no apps.
I wouldn't get it just because it has a faster processor. It was comparable to the 3gs when I used it. It is a really good android phone though.
@Yankees Win
I live in Dallas, and I've always had T-Mobile 3G available.
Really: T-Mobile has the cheapest plans (Even More Plus: $80 for unlimited everything), and they support 3G on the best damn smartphones on the market (Nokia N900 and the G1). Why the hell would you want to bash them unless you're being paid by another carrier?
@TheCodexAlera well i would even buy it just because it is that great of a phone
@Eggo Can you actually do the "plus V/T + W" for an Android phone? (sounds more like it's a dumb-phone option)
I just signed up for the "plus V/T/W" for $60 ... but I guess I can switch again to save $10 / mo.
@TikiTeko
I don't seem to have any problems anymore with my T-Mobile service. 3G pretty much everywhere in St. Louis. Most of the time I even get five bars on my G1.
Speaking of which, we G1 users should get some kind of discount for getting the first Android phones. Maybe some kind of trade-in program.
@TikiTeko Their network does seem to be "growing outward" in addition to "growing upward" (i.e. adding 3G). Here in West Chester, Oh, which is a suburb of Cincinnati, I would only get GPRS a couple months ago. Now I get full 3G.
@Yankees Win
$529.99 :(
@jgp Yeah 3G in dallas is top notch.
@TheCodexAlera ,
I use Android Dev Phone 1 (i.e. HTC Dream, i.e. G1) on AT&T on EDGE for more than a year now, and it is perfectly usable. Yes, I often need to wait for several / a couple of seconds for web site to load, but that's it. If I need to download really big application, I do it while on WiFi connection.
@TheCodexAlera Most simple task as making a call?
@Eggo Sorry to make you repeat that - but where are you getting the $40.00 number from? Is that a T-Mobile plan? If so, I don't see it anywhere.
Thanks!
@Eggo
The $10/ month web only works on certain phones. Android phones have to have the $25/month "Android Data Plan", which used to include 400 text messages when it was just the "G1 Data Plan", but doesn't anymore.
There was, apparently, a time when you could hack the $10 plan to work on other phones, but T-Mobile seems to have closed that loophole as I tried it and just got a page telling me I had to upgrade my service.
@Yankees Win
Its not that bad. I have been using the phone on AT&T for awhile now (I also used the G1 and Ion on AT&T) with no 3G and yes it hurts a bit to browse large websites and download big maps in Google Maps but for everyday stuff you will rarely feel the difference.
Basic Google Searches, Syncing with Gmail, Sports updates via Apps, Facebook App usage etc etc all work just fine. You don't have to worry about Calls and SMS cause that really doesn't make a difference :)
That being said, we aren't sure if AT&T will be releasing a 1ghz Android phone in the 1-2 quarter of 2010 so you MAY want to wait...but this phone is awesome
@Yankees Win Finally users are not kept in the dark anymore on what's the real score with price of the google nexus one. The only caveat here is, it didn't satisfy the dreams of users that this phone will go on the 300 dollar line maybe this is google's way of showing balance to fellow android phones? Hopefully, when another nexus phone has been unveiled the price of the old nexus one won't be cut into half.. OMG
More details about the pricing of Google phone: http://bit.ly/nexus-one-price-too-much-or-not-details
I'm sorta perplexed by the whole ETF thing...so if I were to sign up and say I don't like the phone or T-Mo's service where I am then I'm going to be charged EXTRA for returning the phone?
I thought it was a standard policy to at least have 30 days with no penalty?
Sounds really shady and horrible to me. IF this is true then Google and this phone fail automatically.
@TheCodexAlera
1. you can return the phone within 30 days
2. the ETF basically has you buy the phone for breaking the contract
$180 + $350 = $530
and you get to keep it
@TheCodexAlera
Hmm okay I see the OR part too (I wish Engadget would highlight that part).
So if I canceled and returned the phone to Google I wouldn't have to pay that $350 fee right?
That's marginally better but it still sounds a little perplexing for your average consumer.
Either way I'm intrigued to say the least. It should be interesting to see how the general public receives this device. We already know the blogosphere and all the anti apple nerds are hardcore all about this device and hyping it up to epic proportions but will that actually translate into sales success?
@TheCodexAlera I'm guessing you do have the 30 days. The 120 days is to stop people from buying it, then paying the ETF, to sell it or something else.
@TheCodexAlera The EFT from Google is to recover their commission from T-Mobile. When they sell you the phone w/TMobile service then Tmobile cuts them a commission check. If you cancel within 120 days then TMobile doesn't pay Google so Google charges you.
@TheCodexAlera - goes to show that the big cellphone operators have a MUCH BIGGER STRANGLE HOLD than was originally thought. Google and N1 was the last best (and most likely) hope to break this vicious subsidy cycle! But alas it shall not come to pass ;^(...
damn, and I thought 399 would be a pretty price estimate
@JeremyBenthem
Yeah, I was hoping for $450, tops (based on the unsubsidized prices of Cliq, BB 9700, etc.). I've needed an upgrade for a while, and had more or less decided to go Nexus One, barring a restrictive "price point"... but $530 makes it tough to take that plunge. Urgh...
@JeremyBenthem Hmm the Touch Pro 2 is $540 unlocked with T-Mobile ... and the Nexus has Snapdragon.... and other better goodies... so actually, one could say it is competitive with the current offerings.
@TikiTeko
That's true, TP2 may be a better comparison ... I was hoping (unreasonably) that the higher prices of those Windows HTC phones was a Windows thing, but guess it makes sense that it's due to hardware.
@mpv
Except hardware-wise, the Nexus One is far better than the Cliq. Did you expect more for less? This isn't Wal-Mart!
@Jeff Kibuule
Ha ha, true enough... wishful thinking, I guess (based more on my own price "threshold" than a realistic comparison).
@Jeff Kibuule LOL ! I WANT A WALMART PHONE !!!!!!!!!!! NOW !!! With Dragonfly 3 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM DDR5 mobile, 4" AMOLED screen, GPS, Direct TV 3D, Greentooth, nanoUSB port, 3.5 MM headset, Thought messaging, unlimited voice, text, data, tv, radio; and 50 hours of talk time with 0 radiation for
$9.99 with a $5 Rollover discount and be purchasable through Food Stamps. :D ( Monthly rate of $3.99 that can be paid with recycled plastic bottled )
@TikiTeko
well I'm not exactly calling the price bad, but I figured that when the Dev-Phone 1 released it sold for $399, so it would make sense for this to be as well. An older article did say that the price was going to be very competitive unlocked
and as for the Touch Pro 2 comparison. High-End WinMo phones seem to be a league of their own, kind of like Blackberries. For me at least, the comparable platforms are WebOS, iPhone, and Android.
@Jeff Kibuule They sell good phones at Wal-Mart. Hell they even sell the 3GS there. Wal-Mart =/= cheap.
@N900 I know they do, but Walmart has the best prices - though sometimes topped by Amazon. Therefore, Walmart = cheaper.
Hey, I love Walmart. (Specially the Return Policy)
@JeremyBenthem , you said, "High-End WinMo phones seem to be a league of their own". Could you explain please?
@vkelman
well I just mean in terms of pricing. Some of them are as high as $350, who pays that much when business users clamor to the Blackberries, and regular consumers get a choice of a good android/webOS/iphone device in that $100-$200 range for a given carrier.
if you're a fan of WinMo, you don't have to teach me about how it has more capabilities and what not, I was a big time WinMo user, but no matter how good the hardware, the usability is just garbage
"Don't worry, all will be revealed soon enough. "
Damn it, Topolsky!
Hmmm I think it is fake... or else it is a horrible business plan... THE Nexus One... with a 500 minutes plan... That is like buying Ferrari but you can only drive it for 5 miles per month.... doesn't make sense at all... Maybe the $79.99 even more plus unlimited EVERYTHING... or the 99.99 contract version of that plan... then we are talking...
@TikiTeko
Cripes, my plan is €10/mo for 50 minutes and unlimited texts ... I can't ever envision needing 500 minutes ...
@TikiTeko :S I talk a lot I guess... but I will eat 500 minutes in a slow week. So far on December I have talked like 3500 minutes.
@TikiTeko
I sure as hell wouldn't want this phone if I was going to be talking over 500 minutes a month. Get a phone that's ergonomic and small if you're going to be doing that much talking. This is designed purely for the people who use data a lot more than voice.
@Chefgon lol Ever heard of bluetooth headset or just plain ol' wired handsfree headset? I never use a phone close to my face, no matter how ergonomic ( have yet to see an ergonomic phone - no talking about chins here ). It is the most comfortable way to use your phone and remain productive.
@TikiTeko
That's fair, I hadn't thought of that. I've tried 5 or 6 different bluetooth headsets and I hated them all, so I'm still in the land of holding bricks up to my face.