What’s the argument here?  Don’t even consider trying to clone one of Steve’s babies.  If you were a friend, you will be an enemy.  And it will be personal.

Google’s online-only phone selling model has failed | Googling Google | ZDNet.com.

Andy Ihnatko talks about Google’s Nexus One and how it fits in with the competition  Here’s an important snippet:

• The touchscreen is a serious source of concern. I frequently needed to tap buttons more than once to get the Nexus to recognize the tap. Just as often, an app would think I’d tapped an item close to what I had been aiming for.  My suspicions about the Nexus’ touchscreen began to mount and so I charged up my loaner Droid and did some side-by-side comparisons. Yup: when doing the same tasks in the same apps side-by-side, the Droid was far better at correctly interpreting my intentions than the Nexus.

His full writeup can be found here.

Mobile ads are where it’s at.  Mobile OSes, apps, form factors, advertising – all of it – will likely step in front of every other computing space as the harbinger of what’s next in the entire industry.  And since advertising in this space is anything but mature, the Apple versus Google battle here will perhaps be the most fascinating technology story of this decade.  Here’s some detail from the latest BusinessWeek article on the subject:

• The problem is that user behavior isn’t consistent between desktops and mobile devices. Many people shy away from calling up minuscule search bars on their phones and pecking out queries using cramped keyboards. Search ads tend to be less effective, too, since people are reluctant to give over the one browser screen they have on a phone to an ad. In many cases, apps are far more effective; it takes fewer steps to find the best local sushi joint using apps from Urbanspoon or Yelp than to type out “best local sushi” into a search bar and navigate the results. “Eric Schmidt has said that the search problem is 99 percent solved, but, boy, is that self-serving,” says Jonathan Yarmis, research fellow with the consulting firm Ovum. “The fact that I have to go to a search bar at all is a sign of failure.”

Read more of this great article here.

Probably not, but who knows.  Don’t forget, the Google Nexus is HTC-developed hardware with the Google brand on it.  That’s not exactly the same approach Apple takes in developing literally every aspect of the devices they sell from hardware to software.

And it probably means there’ll only be close competition until anyone else dedicates themselves completely to doing it the Apple way.

But don’t hold your breath.

Mac Observer’s take can be found here.

16 Things I Like about the Google Nexus One (and 8 I don’t).

Perhaps AppleInsider isn’t the place you’d normally go for unbiased analysis, but this is a pretty detailed summary for anyone looking at all three phones.

AppleInsider | Google Nexus One vs Apple iPhone 3GS.

More great stuff, including this:

‘Here’s word from a friend of mine — a smart phone whore — who had a Nexus One for a month and didn’t tell me until this morning. Still, his reactions are informed and represent a month of experience. “I’m not too impressed with it as a phone, ” says my friend. “It’s basically a wash. Google is screw’n it big time with the horrible plans they are dishing it out on t-Mobile and the price is ridiculous. To beat all, it’s radio is horrible, so bad that I literally gave it back and returned to a clunky G1. There is no decent smart phone out right now except the Moto Cliq unless you are lucky enough to have good AT&T coverage with an iPhone, which I don’t.”’

via I, Cringely » Blog Archive » Google 2010: What Makes the Muskrat Guard His Musk? – Cringely on technology.

‘So on Thursday the new Google Nexus One smartphone was going to turn the mobile business model on its head, and some ardent Google fans even thought it was a groundbreaking handset design. By Friday, there was already mounting anger among programmers and target consumers, about delays in the software developers’ kit (SDK), poor support and likely Android fragmentation.

Early users said they had encountered many problems with the phone, and a severe lack of help. Many complaints focus on poor 3G performance, and confusion about pricing terms.’

This little phone business ain’t as easy as just throwing out a handset and watching your groupies run for the cash register after all.

via AWOL SDK kicks off Nexus One backlash • The Register.

The Nexus One is generating a lot of (quite unnecessary) buzz and if you haven’t already stumbled upon the YX question, you very soon will — “Is the Nexus the real iPhone killer?”

I say it’s nonsense. In time we’ll see detailed teardowns of the Nexus, and while geeks will compare its screen and processor to other handsets, mainstream media hacks will salivate over the possibility that here, finally, at last! we have a phone to beat the iPhone. It’s a silly pursuit.

via The Nexus One: A Non-Story.