Nexus none... Sprint drops Google's "superphone"

As Verizon did just weeks ago, it seems that Sprint has followed suit with the Nexus One. According to a post on Gizmodo, a Sprint spokesperson has confirmed Sprint's decision to can the Nexus One. Assuming the above is true, this news means that all of the top 3 US mobile carriers have abandoned Google's premier device (it only works on AT&T because it's unlocked, not because they support it).

Google's entire strategy with the Nexus One was to have one phone on all carriers. According to Gizmodo's source, the device was dropped because the pending HTC EVO 4G release, which is a "more robust, full-featured device."

However, this reason makes little sense, since the two devices were announced within a week of each other. Sprint planned to release the devices around the same time from the get go; there's obviously more to the story than Sprint's revealing. The news of them dropping the Nexus One comes as a shock to the Android community, and a major blow to Google and their phone business model.

Google releases significant Nexus One software update

Google released a firmware update for its Nexus One phone, which fixes a few bugs whilst also bringing some pretty major features.

The first change is that Google Goggles will now be available directly from your Nexus One, under the All Apps menu, with Google saying, "Just use your Nexus One camera to start searching the web." Google Maps has undergone an update, bringing it to version 3.4, with the following changes (according to Google's Nexus One blog post):

• Starred items synchronized with maps.google.com – access your favorite places from your phone or computer.
• Search suggestions from your personal maps.google.com history – makes it easy to search places you've searched for before.
• Night mode in Google Maps Navigation – automatically changes your screen at night for easier viewing and driving.

Perhaps the biggest improvement, however, is that the Nexus One now supports a pinch-to-zoom gesture in the Browser, Maps and Gallery applications. This is a pretty major feature for users of the phone, who will no doubt get a lot of use out of it. Lastly, Google fixed some 3G issues, meaning it should now have somewhat improved connectivity.

The firmware will download over the air if you own a Nexus One, meaning you should see a notification in the phone's status bar when it's ready to be installed. If you don't, be patient – Google hopes that everyone will have the update by the end of the week.

Nexus One built with materials costing $174.15, according to iSuppli

Research firm iSuppli reports Google's Nexus One smartphone is built with hardware totaling approximately $174. Manufactured by HTC but sold under the Google brand name, the Nexus One is priced at $529 without a service contract or $179 with a two-year agreement from T-Mobile. The iSuppli teardown did not factor in manufacturing or licensing costs, therefore decreasing the profit margin.
The Bill-of-Materials breaks down as follows:

• $30.50 for the Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon Processor
• $20.40 for the Samsung DDR Multichip Package
• $8.20 for the Broadcom Bluetooth Transmitter/Receiver
• $2.50 for the Qualcomm Power Management IC
• $2.50 for the Qualcomm RF Transceiver
• $2.20 for the 4 Power Amplifier Modules
• $1.20 for the Texas Instruments Power Management & Li-ion Charger
• $23.50 for the Samsung Display
• $17.50 for the Synaptics Touchscreen
• $16.30 for Miscellaneous Electronic Components
• $12.50 for the 5MP Camera
• $8.50 for the 4GB MicroSD card
• $7.50 for Miscellaneous Electromechanical Components (Connectors, Acoustics, etc.)
• $6.60 for PCB's
• $6.20 for Miscellaneous Mechanical Components (Plastics, Metals, Hardware Shielding, Insulation, etc.)
• $5.25 for the Battery
• $2.80 for the Aluminum Unibody Main Enclosure

Qualcomm leads all other suppliers with 20.4% of the Nexus One's BOM. The Snapdragon processor is the most expensive single component with the 3.7-inch OLED display coming in second. iSuppli found the Nexus One to be the most "Apple-like" product to date, with a unibody design similar to that of the iPhone.

Kevin Keller, Senior Analyst at iSuppli, states, "With the Nexus One, Google has taken the most advanced features seen in recent smart phone designs and wrapped them up into a single sleek design. Items like the durable unibody construction, the blazingly fast Snapdragon baseband processor and the bright and sharp Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AM-OLED) display all have been seen in previous phones, but never before combined into a single design. This gives the Nexus One the most advanced features of any smart phone ever dissected by iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service - a remarkable feat given the product's BOM is similar to comparable products introduced during the past year."

Google's Nexus One first week sales below expectations

The sales figures for the Nexus One's first week sales are in, and the results aren't what Google was hoping for. The actual figures are based on Flurry, which tracks application usage per phone in the market, and approximately four out of five applications on the iPhone.

Flurry's tracking system works with more than 10,000 developers' applications on the iPhone and Android platforms. Based on the applications used by new mobile phone users, Flurry can track roughly how many users purchased and used the phone in the first week.

Flurry tracked about 20,000 users using the Nexus One phone from January 5 – 12, 2010. The MyTouch 3G launched back in August 5, 2009, with roughly 60,000 users tracked in the first week, three times more than Nexus One.

The Motorola Droid had roughly 250,000 users monitored in the first week of sales, 12 times that of the Nexus One. The Apple iPhone 3GS had an estimated 1.6 million users tracked in the first week of sales, selling over 1 million units in three days of its launch. It's important to note that the iPhone sales were based across 8 countries compared to just the US for the other devices.

Take note that these numbers are based on Flurry's tracking system for the first week of sales and may not reflect actual handset sales.