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Google Sold Only 20,000 Nexus One Units, Now that’s Too Low

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With the fact that the Nexus One is only available through Google’s online store and only in four countries so far, it’s not surprising that Google was able to sell only 20,000 units of the phone. The report was made by Mobile-ent.biz basing from data it obtained from app analytics Flurry and covers the first week of Nexus One’s availability.

Comparing this with the sales performance of the iPhone 3GS which stands at 1.5 million units, it is easy to say that Google may have failed on this one. Even the Motorola DROID, beats the Nexus One big time, with its 250,000 units first week sales.

So, what went wrong? Did Google fail this time?  The numbers certainly don’t lie. But then, aren’t we supposed to put into consideration several variables first before comparing the first week sales of the Nexus One, iPhone 3G, Motorola DROID and even MyTouch 3G, the first Android phone.? Most certainly.

First things first, all mentioned smartphones were released with their own mobile carriers releasing and distributing them. In the case of the Nexus One, Google is the sole distributor of the unit. And besides, it is only available in four countries – U.K., U.S., Hong Kong and Singapore. A significant number of mobile phone users, who may be eager to purchase could not do so because the Nexus One was not available in their countries.

Hopefully, once Google make the Nexus One in more countries, the figures will improve.

But if not, then that’s the time when we could say that Google failed. But only on its first mobile phone venture. Not the whole Android phone business per se. Because, certainly there will be another Google phone, perhaps the Nexus 2 or Nexus 3 and so on.

Saying that the Nexus One failed because its first week sale was too low is still an unfounded conclusion. [Read more…]

Originally posted on January 13, 2010 @ 9:03 am

Google Unveils the Nexus One, Plus a Mobile Phone Web Store

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There you have have it folks, as promised –  Google has officially announced the Nexus One, perhaps the iPhone’s biggest threat. And to make this product launch a little something different from just your ordinary product launch, Google is highlighting the fact that the Nexus One is just the first mobile phone that it plans to market through its mobile phone web store.

The Google hosted mobile phone web store aims to give consumers, that means us a new way to purchase a mobile phone. Specifically, Google wants to connect online users with selected Android devices, which in this case for starter is the Nexus One. Google wants to make the purchasing process simple.  Unfortunately, the first thing that will great you if you’re not from the U.S. is a note that says – “Sorry, the Nexus One Phone is not available in your country.” Common Google, are we non-U.S. folks not part of these mobile phone consumers?

Anyway, going back to Nexus One, which Google is calling as a “superphone”, true to what you’ve might have read from unofficial information, reviews and photo leaks the Nexus One will have a large 3.7-inch OLED screen with deep contrast and brilliant colors display capability, a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, Android 2.1 OS, voice-enabled keyboard, live Wallpapers, 3D photo gallery, and Google’s own mobile phone apps such as Gmail, Google Voice and Google Maps.

And now for the most important information, how much would the Nexus One cost you?  You can either get the subsidized unit under T-Mobile for $179 or unlocked version for $529 which will ship in the U.S., U.K., Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Originally posted on January 5, 2010 @ 4:18 pm

More Users are Planning to Buy Android Phones

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Screen shot 2010-01-05 at 5.26.11 AM

In a few hours from now, Google is about to announce its Nexus One phone amidst spectators and media pundits. So, it is interesting to note ChangeWave’s December 9-14 survey of around 4,068 consumers showing that 4% of the respondents who own a smartphone are using Google Android OS and 21% of those respondents who are planning to buy a smartphone said that they will most likely get an Android phone.

Whether that Android phone is going to be the Motorola DROID or the Google Nexus phone remains to be seen. But the good news is that the Motorola DROID seemed to have successfully paved the way for the Android OS to fully roll out to the smart phone market, something which the previous Android phones failed to achieve.

Looking at the changes in the data from previous ChangeWave survey – the 21% of respondents who plan to get the Android phone equals to 15% increase from the survey in September while those who are currently using phone running on on Google Android equals to to a 3% increase from September data.

Another interesting to note from the survey results is the fact that among the smartphones, it is only the Android phone and RIM/Blackberry OS  buyers which increased from September to December 2009.  Future buyers of the iPhone, Windows Mobile phone and Palm OS/Web OS have all decreased.

And things will definitely change once the Nexus One phone is finally announced and hopefully released the soonest time possible. With the Nexus One hype rapidly building up, it is undoubtedly going to be an Android OS year, unless of course Apple comes up with something new – iPhone 4.0 perhaps?

Originally posted on January 4, 2010 @ 5:28 pm

Palm Unveils Pixi Plus, Pre Plus, and 3D Games for Palm Pre

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PalmPre 3D Games

It seems that Palm including its WebOS has just been reborn. Thanks to the CES 2010, Palm is bringing out some new good things up on its sleeves.  First is the launch of two new Palm smartphones – the Palm Pixi Plus and Palm Pre Plus. And second, some new  3D games are now available for Palm Pre.

Palm Pixi Plus features a nice streamlined design with simple navigation, 16GB of storage and a Touchstone Back Cover available in four colors – pink, green, blue and orange. While the Palm Pre Plus also have similar features with the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity. Both Palm smartphones will be available on January 25 on Verizon Wireless.

In addition, Palm also launched a new webOS app called Palm mobile hotspot. This app lets you turn your Palm Pixi Plus or Palm Pre Plus into a mobile Wi-Fi router. Up to five Wi-Fi enabled can access the internet through the Palm smartphone serving as a router.

As for the 3D games, Palm also announced several new 3D games which are available right now for download to the Palm Pre phone series. These 3D games include Need for Speed Undercover, The Sims 3, MONOPOLY, Asphalt 5: Elite Racing, Let’s Golf, Glyder 2 and X-Plane.

With the smartphone market heating up with the release of the Nexus One, and the iPhone still up and about, it’s a good thing that Palm is awakening from a deep slumber.  These developments will certainly help them catch up with the iPhone and possibly prevent the Nexus One from getting to much of the smartphone market share.

Originally posted on January 8, 2010 @ 8:00 am

Flurry Report: More iPod Touch Download than iPhone During Christmas

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iPod-v-iPhone

Some interesting report here by mobile analytics company, Flurry Analytics.  According to their early Christmas data on Apps Store downloads, more iPod owners have download apps during Christmas day than iPhone owners. iPod Touch downloads increased by 1,000%  compared to other days.

So, what can we deduced from this findings?  Perhaps, the iPod Touch is also one of the most gifted item during Christmas Day aside from the Amazon Kindle?

Aside from this, the iTunes Apps Store alone made a 51% increase in downloads from November to December. And even more interesting is the fact that the iPod Touch downloads are now greater than iPhone apps download during Christmas Days. Well, of course this is quite understandable considering that it would be more practical to give the iPod Touch as a Christmas gift than the iPhone.

So, what happens to the Droid during Christmas Day? Fortunately, it has somehow managed to get a good piece of the pie. Flurry also reported that Motorola’s Droid managed to get 49% of all Android Apps that were sold on Christmas Day. This should give Google a boost on confidence knowing that there are actually people downloading and using Android Apps. It is very important for Google to gauge the Android Market’s performance, especially with the rumored launch of the Google Nexus One anytime next year.

Unfortunately for Android, the data on apps downloaded from the Android market is still far inferior with that of the Apps Store.

The Android folks have a lot of catching up to do, if they want the Android market to compete with the Apps Store. It would be interesting to know how things will change once the Nexus One is released.

Originally posted on December 28, 2009 @ 9:10 am