It's getting to be a lot like Apple's announcements, when Google schedules press conferences or a confab, you know something exciting is about to be shown.
First off, the announcement of the first phone to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the Nexus S with a 4" curved AMOLED display face. It comes with Near Field Communication (NFC) that allows your phone to receive information from objects designed to communicate when you wave your phone near it.
What is glaringly absent from the phone however, is that it is designed for HSDPA and HSUPA but not for HSPA+, meaning that the phone is stuck at a maximum 7.2Mbps wireless data download speed, while other T-Mobile Android phones like the G2 and Mytouch 4G are both capable of running at 14.4Mbps. Also missing: external microSD card slot; comes with only 16GB of internal memory.
On 2 year contract via T-Mobile, it's $199 / off contract it's $529. Is it worth $199 if it is stuck at 7.2Mbps and no external card slot? Tough to say.
Then there's the announcement of Google's long awaited eBookstore. You're now able to get to all of those old books whose copyrights have long expired, for free and easily on all sorts of devices, as well as shop for contemporaneous titles from a number of parters like Powells.
I think I'm more excited by this announcement than the Nexus S phone, in truth. How awesome is it, to be a kid and told to read Huck Finn? Now you can grab your netbook, desktop, e-reader or smart phone and just start reading the classic story for free! Jane Austen, Tom Sawyer...free.
Only thing missing from today's announcements: ChromeOS devices. Maybe tomorrow?
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