Google Nexus One: smarter than the average smart phone?

It’s official! The Google Nexus One smart phone is now on the market. It’s not big news to most because Google leaked it back in December when they distributed pre-market phones to employees and other “friends of Google”.

You can get the specs on the phone (which uses the Android OS) here.

Google is calling it a “super phone” rather than a “smart phone” but, analysts aren’t convinced this is any kind of revolutionary leap in smart phone technology. You can read a good report from today’s release press conference here.

You can purchase the Nexus (built by HTC) with and without a plan/contract. Right now the phone is only shipping to United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore. However, as with the iPhone, it will be rolled out to other countries. In the U.S. it’s price tag is $529 with no service plan or $179 with a two-year plan from T-Mobile.

Since it’s a GSM phone and uses a SIM card, I’m sure they’ll be a lot of cross-boarder early adopters heading to the U.S.A. from countries such as Canada just to have one.

Even if this isn’t a giant leap in smart phone technology, its cool factor can not be underestimated. This is a Google phone after all and I would expect a lot of people will want it just for that.

Now, who wants to place bets on who the first ESP will be to come out with a Nexus app? I’m betting the elves were working on this before the holidays and it won’t take long. Post your bets below!

Takeaway: The Nexus One will score high with consumers on the coolness factor and should see good sales. Google is now following MS in producing devices to close the loop to the pixels they have been pushing. Do you have a marketing plan for mobile channels?