Google Confirms April Launch For Nexus One In UK

Google has set the official UK launch date of its Nexus One smartphone for April 2010. The handset will be available through the Google web store at http://www.google.com/phone, according to an exclusive report in The Telegraph.

Google finally unveiled its own-brand Nexus One smartphone in early January, after weeks of rumour and speculation. The company said at the time that it had teamed up with Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile in the US, as well as Vodafone in Europe, to sell the device from spring 2010.

Nexus One from Vodafone UK… and T-Mobile?

In February reports began circling of T-Mobile UK being in talks with Google to stock the Nexus One, suggesting that operator competition for the device was hotting up. “We are talking to Google at the moment, and we hope to have an announcement in due course,” said Robin O’Kelly, T-Mobile UK’s head of corporate affairs, at the time. “We make no bones about it that it is a very exciting device,” he said.

None of the UK operators involved have been able to confirm any pricing details for the handset. However, the phone is sold via Google’s US website, at a price of $529 (£353) unlocked, or a subsidised price of $179 (£120) when purchased with a T-Mobile two-year contract.

Following its launch in the US, complaints began to surface on Google’s mobile help forum about the poor 3G coverage from T-Mobile when using the Nexus One smartphone. However, it was not long before Google pushed out a fix to improve 3G connectivity on some Nexus One phones.

The handset has been billed by some reviewers as an iPhone killer, or a least its closest competitor, and is described as a good device for business users. Built by HTC and running Google’s Android operating system, the Nexus One received rave reviews from both UK and US testers.

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