image by engadget

Rumors of a “Google Phone” have been flying around for several years. Especially after the Apple iPhone came out. These rumors have been increasing of recent with their release of Google Voice.

At an all-hands meeting on Friday, Google started to hand out phones with the newest version of Android on it to their employees. The hardware of the phone appears to be eerily similar to the HTC Passion, but it is speculated that the UI and OS are altered and designed by Google.

There has been absolutely no official statement from Google yet about the actual development of such a phone, but there have been an awful lot of photos surfacing about the potential Google Phone, along with a couple of potential code names: Nexus One and Phone 88.

Judging by what we’ve seen, it will probably sport the 3.7 inch AMOLED display that’s making an appearance on HTC’s other Android device the Bravo. With that said, I feel it’s safe to assume that much of the hardware behind the pictured sexy exterior will be the same as the Bravo as well. Including the Snapdragon 1GHz processor.

What we do know, is according to a variety of sites, the Nexus One has made its way into the hands of the FCC and reports are showing that the phone tote some features that were rumored, such as the ever-so-common, Micro SD expansion, WiFi (802.11 b/g), Bluetooth 2.1 and it will most likely be 3G and unlocked for various frequency bands.

For more info we highly recommend checking out these links:

Mashable | Engadget

Hmm… Sounds like someone got confused somewhere.

Aside from the European release and the US release being 3 months apart it seems that the only difference between the phones is the branding.

Naming aside, this phone may shine a new light on smartphones for me, since most of the time I am unimpressed with one aspect or another. The phone is rumored to have a plethora of pleasing specs and looks that make me giggle, bringing together a very, very holy alliance between the: Snapdragon QDS 1GHz CPU, Android 2.0, AMOLED 3.7 inch capacitive touchscreen, 5MP camera capable of shooting 720p video, and a variety of other nifty features including Wifi, FM radio tuner, digital compass and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

It’s too bad I have another year left on my contract, or else getting the Passion/Bravo would be my new years resolution. Maybe they’ll have something nicer by then. Who knows? Maybe 2010 will also have an iPhone for Verizon?

Click the  link to download the new version.

Oh, and keep reading for a full list of changes + screenshots.

Version 2.1 Change Log:

- Lists (create, edit, manage, and more)
- Retweet
- Geotagging
- Report Spam (via new API)
- Tweet stream “gap” detection
- What the Trend
- UI tweaks
- Set history=1 for j.mp
- Definitive quoting syntax
- Handle “@user/list” links
- New video options: Posterous, Mobypicture, Vid.ly
- Handle custom protocol schemes in embedded browser
- User Manual
- Google Mobilizer
- Custom Mobilizer
- Overlapr service
- Post ‘message’ parameter through custom API endpoints
- URL encode data sent to custom URL shortener
- Refactor Settings
- Improved accessibility
- Disable pinstripes option
- Disable “Mark as Read” when no unread
- Generated VCards now link to https
- Improved errors on sending
- Option to disable browser rotation
- Call from linked address book screens
- Improved iTunes Store links
- New protocol handlers (see developer.atebits.com for more)
- Hook for easier custom URL endpoint installation
- Image compression options
- Fix multiple browser popups
- Fix tweetie:/// style handlers
- Fix upside-down browser and image viewer
- Fix rare crash translating tweets
- Fix saved state bugs
- Fix rare conversation threading hang
- Fix TextExpander integration
- Fix problem reposting outgoing tweets
- Fix botched geotag pins
- Fix Japanese posting bug
- Fix Email conversation

And now some pictures:

Long story short, AT&T followed up with me finally, saying that the issue seemed to have been resolved on the network end and wanted to make sure that the issue was indeed fixed on my end. I confirmed it had. One more satisfied customer. Love that brands are taking such a proactive approach. Well I guess they have to though, the power of social networking is such that a sour customer could do a lot of damage to a company, but reaching out and trying to fix their issue instead helps.

Have any of you had an experience like this with AT&T or any other companies? Disagree with my praise of the carrier? Let us know. Voice your opinion in a comment below!

On Sunday, I had an even better experience: I called my girlfriend, the phone rang and then I was connected to a random party who couldn’t hear me. Then the phone started to ring again and I was connected to a different random party whom did not speak English… this cycle continued on until I was connected to a total of 5 different people, all without me needing to redial. On the other end, my intended party’s phone rang and my caller id showed up on screen. When she picked up she was connected to another random woman. See the diagram below for my theory on how the problem works (I apologize for the poor quality).

Some details on my problem: I am located in the Stamford area of Connecticut. I own an iPhone 3G with all the latest upgrades and carrier settings. I called AT&T and they said it was most likely a network issue, but it was not a known issue and confirmed it was most likely not my phone.

Anyone else having this problem? Tell us about it.

Here are my thoughts on the Smartphone market. When you start a jigsaw puzzle and all the pieces are scattered across the table, you know that there is a beautiful picture in there somewhere, but the parts are in all the wrong places. Well that’s the Smartphone market. Think about it.

HTC
On one side of the table you have HTC: one of the few companies that got the “sleek form factor” piece of the Smartphone world right with their HD2 phone. Too bad they left the usability piece (aka Android OS)  back on the other side of the table. Instead they force fed WinMo 6.5, a piece that looks like it fits, but really won’t. In the end, it ruins the puzzle’s beautiful picture.

Motorola:
Back to the other side of the table, you have Motorola. They’ve got the usability concept down, taking the extremely versatile Android OS and building it into their new release the Motorola DROID. But they seem to have forgotten that puzzle piece that likes to fall off the table and onto the floor: form factor. I might be the only one, but I want to break off every slide out keyboard I see on a phone. I would love to rip the keys off and put them back on, spelling “your a tool”. Seriously, why bother with a touch screen if your going to put physical keys on it. It defeats the purpose. Touchscreens are designed to eliminate unnecessary moving parts…

RIM
Which brings me to another point: The Storm. This is an especially touchy subject for me as I am an original Storm owner. So believe me, I know first hand of all its short comings, but I may also have a biased opinion so feel free to comment.

I think RIM did good in a lot of areas here. Form factor, usability, and even the service provider (Verizon); all fairly decent. Not top of the line mind you, but decent none the less. Not to stray back to my cheesy analogy… but think of the storm as your 50 piece puzzle instead of your 1000 piece puzzle. You have to remember the Blackberry OS was not designed to support a touchscreen so I give RIM a handicap in that area, and the sure-press click typing thing; a ballsy move in my book, so I give them points for effort despite it’s tremendous failure.

Apple
I am definitely not an Apple fanboy, far from it in fact, but over the past few years the iPhone has set the bar for Smartphones and they set it pretty damn high. But even Apple didn’t get all the pieces together right away. Stupid things like picture messaging and landscape keyboards in initial releases didn’t make the cut. Which make me wonder; will any of these companies ever get this right? Thoughts anyone?