Today's
Nexus One may be the hottest keyboard-free Android smartphone on the market today, but it doesn't
exactly have the hottest network support. That looks like it'll be changing soon thanks to Walmart of all places, which has put up a "Coming Soon!" page for the Nexus One, listing an impressive suite of wireless bands including 1xEvDO for 3G on Sprint and Verizon
and UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900 for 3G on AT&T. Could this finally be the network-agnostic smartphone (or
smartphones, as the case may be) that Google has wanted, or is it just a case of some optimistic web admin letting his fingers do the walking when writing up this teaser? We're leaning toward the latter, and there's also a rumor of a $99 price when purchased at Walmart. We're having a hard time swallowing that one, too -- if only because the
Droid went for $188 there at launch.
Update: Seems Walmart
slipped up! Spokesman Ravi Jariwala states:
"Due to a technical error, this item erroneously was displayed on our site. We're working with our partner Let's Talk to have it removed as quickly as possible. We have no plans to carry Nexus One in Walmart stores or online at Walmart.com at this time."
posted January 26th 2010 6:58AM
@(Unverified)
Getting rid of the trackball would be stupid. It would gimp it's text editing capability back to the stone age where the iphone resides.
@(Unverified)
Hey. The trackball is part of the reason I chose it. All touchscreens need a fallback pointing device.
Meh bring it to Australia already!
@iKid Just import it like the rest of us do!
ALL phones should be network agnostic.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
@Smart People Play Tuba
Right now there is power to the people. The people in charge of the major cell service providers.
@Smart People Play Tuba
+1
@iKid oh hai! Seeing google releasing their Nexus One to multiple carriers is just a dream come true, and now it not only on a GSM unlock but to CDMA too? This is sweet. Although the rumors that Nexus One will be open for AT&T didn't push through (oups for ATT) Carrier Details: http://bit.ly/nexus-one-on-multiple-carriers-details
@level67 I would, but what about my technophobic friends? We have hardly any Android phones down here.
i wonder if that means you'll be able to get one from asda in the UK?
I really hate shopping at Wal-mart. It is quite literally the last place I would want to go to buy a phone...
@nicholiservia
Lets be honest, no one goes to wal-mart for the customer support or good atmosphere. You go to save money. If you have questions go to a T-Mo store ask your questions and leave or go to a discussion site.
@grumbles the only phone I'd buy at Wallyworld would be a cheap disposable phone, like those $19.99 T-mobiles. Not saying why I would need to buy a disposable phone, just saying that's the only one I'd buy, if I had to buy one.
@nicholiservia Ahah yea that's why i'd never go to that one. I'll take my chances with the westbury walmart
and I don't see this ever being $99 just because the currnt fees are rediculious. They would have to charge $400 if someoe tried to get out of their contract early
@grumbles I could not agree more.... I feel toxic after walking in one of those stores... However a badass multi, correction, omni-carrier phone is great news!
@nicholiservia I had the misfortune of going to the valley stream walmart. I hate that store. Everytime you go in, the store just looks and feels like the physical manifestation of poverty. It really made me question why so many people wanted a walmart in NYC. I guess those that do have never actually been in a walmart. Plus the prices were actually more expensive than target, which is actually in the city and doesn't look like shit.
@grumbles If it is a legit Nexus One for 99 bucks, I don't care if it is at the Kwik-E-Mart, I would buy it.
@ddhboy I don't think you can compare stores in different areas pricing-wise like that. However, I've A/B'ed the prices at Walmart and Target in the same neighborhoods before and I would say that Walmart is cheaper about 95% of the time. The big stores always send people around to see what the price is at the competition, so when one place drops the price by a dollar the other one usually follows.
A lot of the time though the price difference is like 11 cents, since Walmart prices a lot of stuff as x.88 whereas Target doesn't. There's a few items where you'll see larger spreads but more or less the pricing spies keep the prices pretty similar. So if you prefer shopping at Target it's usually not some huge financial hit, but when Walmarts are near Targets usually the Walmart is slightly more aggressive on price.
I would say the biggest weakness of Walmart is it's crappy computer parts pricing-it just isn't able to keep up with the superfast cycles like specialty computer stores can. So you'll see hilariously lousy video cards insanely outdated but with their prices only cut by Walmart's weird internal formulas.
But honestly I get pretty crappy service at Target, and while I sometimes get some lame service at Walmart I actually think overall the workers have been friendlier and more helpful there. I remember back in college I didn't have a cooking knife so I went to Walmart for the first time in my whole life and asked for help with finding the knives and the lady did one better and went and dug out a decent set of cooking knives on clearance for $2.99-not the greatest cooking knives ever but they've held up nicely till this day.
I will admit that the clientele at most Walmarts isn't exactly made up of the super-wealthy but I don't think I'll ever mind-the only reason I'd shop there less if I had more money is that Walmart doesn't really sell a lot of higher-quality items, but for the stuff you buy for daily living there's really no reason to go buy super-expensive garbage bags elsewhere (although Target does have good prices on garbage bags now in their bulk purchasing section).
It really is true... good things come to those that wait.
It's got to be some kind of mix up. Although, a Nexus One w/ at&t 3g would be something I'd consider picking up.
@rduran
I would purchase this phone instantly.
Well considering that expandable memory up to 32MB (?) is listed twice, I wouldn't put too much faith in the person writing this description.
I sure hope this means a price drop for the current N1 since I haven't bought it yet.
I saw a commercial for this but Sprint wasn't announced as one of the carriers. Hope it's true.
there are Walmarts here in Brazil, but very few carry smartphones (locked or not). but we'll have to wait until later this year just to get a Nexus One.
Would be interesting if they sold the unlocked one... Even then, I wouldn't buy it from walmart unless it's cheaper
Dont get me wrong I love my Nexus one. However, Android 2.1 is buggy as fuck.
- Keeps telling me the wrong person has texted, annoying.
- Sometimes boots up into the bootloader (Unacceptable for mainstream device.
- Camera can look pink at times
- Sometimes text messages say failed even when they sent, so you try sending again and end up sending the same message 6 times. It stays under failed, then when you next turn the phone on it sends all failed texts!?
I cant imagine how these things got through the testing stages, as my best mate as the same device and is experiencing all the same issues.
@TechCrunch You just must have a buggy device then. Or maybe you downloaded a app that is causing problems. I have not had one of those problems and i had it sence january 6th.
@prowler63
The fact that a third party app could even cause these issues is worrying in itself.
@TechCrunch
Something is wrong with your phone, I only have one problem which you described which is the pink camera in low light conditions.
@TechCrunch I can vouch for some of those bugs. I've seen a text from a mate have my wife's name next to his message in the thread (coming out of the text app and then back in cleared the problem), and the camera in the wrong conditions is //very//pink in the middle.
Mostly the camera is very good, but in very low light -- here's an extreme example -- those cakes were all a standard lightish-beige cake colour: http://twitpic.com/zebtn
Images in good light are much, much better:
http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2010/01/photos-from-nexus-one-google-htc-camera-phone/
Cheers,
Mark
@TechCrunch
android is buggy as hell buggy on samsung moment, from sprint and buggy on the droid too. I mean android is allright but out of nowhere people now want it when just months ago nobody cared. I guess those vzw wireless commercials changed peoples minds. To me web os is a far superior software than android to bad it doesn't have badass hardware well hope the pre 2 is something expectacular. I still love my pre though
hey, did you guys notice that its a walmart.letstalk.com page? i know shopping at walmart sucks - but if looks like it'll be available on letstalk.com...i've shopped with them before, they always have great deals and rebates.
Interesting International features per their website:
International Features
Can I call people outside the US and Canada? No
International 3G Data Roaming No
International 2G Data Roaming No
Can I make and receive calls outside the US and Canada? No
Can I send and receive text messages from people outside the US and Canada? No
Can I send and receive messages while outside the US and Canada? No
Can I use the email and mobile web features on my phone while outside the US and No
Have they fixed the soft buttons yet?
I can't tell you how happy this makes me! I hope they launch it soon. I'll be able to sell my 3GS, buy the nexus one and wait until June for the iPhone announcement. Then if the new iPhone isn't incredible (read high res screen, revamped UI, etc). Then I can just switch to vzw and keep my phone :)
Doesn't Google have a patent on an arbitrage type system where the providers bid the lowest price for service?
I remember the story on engadget about a year ago but cannot find it. If this is true, then all phones should come out this way. I don't mind it a little bigger because of the duel radios. Even if the phone was $500, the total cost of ownership has the potential to be a huge gamechanger.
@Mightydh by patent, I mean patent application.
Heh, Google partnering with a company that essentially has slaves in 3rd world companies to make their products....
"Don't be evil?"
How about "We're becoming the definition of evil."
Google: Check Mate Bitches! Lmao
My only question is if I bought this out of contract could I get away with activating it on Sprint and still keep my SERO plan.
Does that mean the POS that I just paid $529 for only has bands for Tmob and I have to sell it and buy another one to get one that will work on all 3?
This could be very possibly. The snapdragon chip for CDMA handles GSM as well. Would be too sweet to the Tmo fanboi's if the new one supported all three.
Okay, the N1 for $99 is like.....whatever to me. I'd pay $300 on contract if it meant I could use the thing on my [at&t] network -- first of all.....though truthfully, I'd rather have it off contract, so the price is moot to me. And second, I'd buy it at publix if it meant I could use the thing on my [at&t] network. I'm one of those people who are on at&t, just WAITING to have the opportunity to own a phone like the N1.....waiting, and waiting because I don't want to switch to t-mo, sprint, or verizon because they way I see it, they are the lesser of 4 evils just to say I own an android phone. I don't want a tilt2, I don't want a backflip, and I don't want a dell mini, so I wait. What I get out of this is the chance to own an N1, no matter how remote, is better than it was before I read this....or, it's bullshit and I'm being set up for disappointment. So thanks engadget. I will now find a corner and cry myself to sleep.
@JMichels
at&t is the lesser of 4 evils? You are the first person I've ever heard say that. please explain
@mastahc411
What I meant was, the network doesn't matter to me, there isn't one that doesn't have some tradeoff from another is some way. The way I see it, the only thing that differentiates my network from others are my choices of phones. It's pointless to debate about which network is better and why, the basic principle is the same and I no more want to trade my cellular provider for one that is just like it simply based on which phone I am allowed to choose for myself. I want an android phone, and at this point, the lesser evil in my mind is the carrier which allows me to choose the one that I want because in the end, it doesn't matter to me beyond that. I'll still have a voice and data plan, for which I will pay. It's not like t-mo offers me anything more than the phone I want at this point. My choice is whether to leave at&t just for an N1. It would be easier to me if there is an N1 that can run on at&t's 3g network because I just don't want to leave a carrier based solely on the phone alone because I've been with at&t for years and see no reason why I should switch other than the phone -- which is why I'm waiting. The at&t network works fine where I live, while many that I know who use t-mo have issues. I would prefer an N1 on at&t. I've very emotional about it really, so perhaps I come off as a bumbling idiot, sorry for the confusion. I'm not a fanboi or anything, I just want my choice with my carrier.
i'd be willing to bet that the network info isn't correct - they probably just put everything on there and then some guy who actually knows what he's talking about will fix it later this week...
I can guarantee that if they drop a $99 Nexus One, there will either be a down side (like 3 year contract maybe) or those phones will also be available for the same price from the actual wireless provider stores. If they undercut the actual wireless stores, they will be totally shooting themselves in the foot as far as continued support and customer service - nothing against Wal-Mart workers, but those guys back in the wireless department often just got transferred from stocking the dairy aisle, and have absolutely NO clue about technical questions and/or specifics regarding any of the multiple wireless carrier plans. So, if something goes wrong, and you walk into one of the authorized centers for your wireless provider, why on earth should they help you with a phone they got screwed on?
Google and the providers had better think carefully on this deal, if there is even any truth behind the rumor.
FK ME! I just bought one unlocked from google!
Wait! What will happen to all the old people? I sure know grandma isn't going to know what the hell she's handing me when I walk in.