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Google Nexus Rumored To Cost $530 Or $180 w/Plan
wkurzius writes "The new Google phone, the Nexus One, is rumored to cost $530 unlocked and will work on any GSM network. A subsidized version is also available for $180 and will get you a T-Mobile Even More Individual 500 Plan for 2-years with a $350 termination fee. Access to the phone is supposed to be invite only at first, with January 5th being the supposed release date."
Seriously? Since when the hell is the ability to buy a phone "invite only"? I swear the social aspect of phone ownership is getting ridiculous.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Who got invited? Whoopi Goldberg? Or one of the celebs on the T-Mobile Android ads?
And $530 for an unlocked phone that will last about three years? Really?
I can only hope this brings down the cost of these phones. The prices are already greater than the cost of netbooks and bargain laptops/desktops. I realize that miniaturization is a factor, but we really need more strong competitors in this area. I would much prefer a non-subsidized phone except the price is a little daunting all in one lump sum.
Those wanting to buy the handset subsidized will pay $180 and have to sign up for a two year contract. There appears to be only one plan available for these customers, and that is the T-Mobile Even More Individual 500 Plan, which gives you 500 minutes, free weekend and in-network calls and unlimited SMS, MMS and data. That bring the total cost over two years to $2,100.
The unsubsidized price + a data plan is vastly cheaper
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
If someone buys the phone with the subsidy then subsequently leaves T-mo and pays the ETF, will T-mo unlock the phone? Also, is the ETF prorated? In any case, it seems that the combination of a cheap phone for voice and a netbook/laptop + WiFi or if ubiquitous access is necessary a data stick are a better deal for the money.
Like all the other smartphones in recent memory, they cost a fortune if you're an early adopter. If you don't want to get mugged then just wait a couple of months for the hoopla to die down. Your old phone won't stop working in the interim if you don't have the latest whizbang handset the day after its release.
"just plain old FUD."
You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
I prefer a void in conversation to a vacuous one.
Yeah, there will be an SDK... Android SDK :rolleyes:
Sweet! A decrypted protocol with an OS by a company that doesn't care about your privacy... Where do I sign up???
"Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
The funny thing is that T-Mobile offers a pretty decent plan with 3G data for $50/month which would be my first choice. But if you buy the subsidized phone, you get the spendy $80/month plan which doesn't really have good value to warrant the extra cost, IMO. Difference seems to be just more minutes and unlimited SMSs. So I could see buying the unsubsidized phone, and just getting the cheaper T-Mobile data plan separately.
Also, T-Mobile is one of the major carriers that refused to turn over customer information to US officials without a warrant. And they got KZJ, who is much sexier than the "Can You Hear Me Now" guy.
You can buy an N900 for $569.00. As long as you are going to drop that kind of change, why would you limit yourself to an Android fone?
* Carthago Delenda Est *
Like another poster says in reply to this, there's a lot you've gotten wrong here. You seem to have your technologies confused.
The only reason that smartphones make more sense at the moment on GSM/UMTS networks has nothing to do with the technology involved, but the economics. There are a lot more people on GSM/UMTS networks than CDMA, mostly due to the fact that CDMA was a late comer to the cell phone game. My guess is that the CDMA follow-on will come later in the year.
Dial? What is this dial of which you speak?
Oh, you mean "dial" as in "push buttons". How quaint.
I use a bluetooth headset, and just press the button and read off the numbers I want to call (assuming it's for someone not in my phone book).
I get three benefits out of this:
1. Everyone around me sees what an Important Person I am, and thinks, "wow, someone that technologically forward and yet tastelessly rude must be important." Many of the females obviously think "and I must mate with him immediately!" but sadly I live in a prudish area, so they just look at me with longing, pass into a slight faint where their eyes roll back in their head, then glare because they are angry they can't have sex with me right away.
2. I get to announce to everyone in earshot what number I am trying to call. I just know everyone wants to know that. It's important.
3. When the phone misunderstands the number I meant to dial, complete strangers have the pleasure of speaking to me, albeit briefly. Most of them understand the value of my time and, once they realize it's me, they remind me that I have important things to do and end the call.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
I do not understand. You're complaining that Google doesn't have some magic fairy dust to sprinkle over the phone so that it costs half as much all of a sudden?
From what I can see, the prices are competitive, and match the established level for smartphones of this caliber. What else do you want?
So a Linux-based device using X that supports both Qt and GTK2 toolkits is somehow a dead-end OS?
If and only if you root the thing. I would be surprised, seeing as how it is (optionally) subsidized by T-Mobile, if the Nexus One did not also require being rooted.
rich guys still like to flaunt their Porsche's, Maserati's and Aston Martin's
... you'd be flaunting your's like there's no tomorrow.
Infuriate left and right