When Nexus One locks horn with iPhone

BANGALORE, INDIA: The big war between Google and Apple seems to get intensified with the launch of Google's Nexus One. Betting on the emerging generation of superphones, Nexus One claims to be the place where web meets phone, while iPhone is the place where touch meets phone.

As the industry is waiting for the initial performance and acceptance of the new products in the market, we move a step further to see the differences between the two.

The very first and fundamental difference is the underlying operating source. While Nexus One is based on open source – Android, iPhone follows legacy propriety closed operating source.

Look and feel



When it comes to looks, Nexus One is similar to iPhone in weight and thickness - i.e. 130 grams and 11.5 millimetres thick. However, the screen is slightly (3.7-inch) larger than the latter, which gives Nexus only one point high.

Moving down to deeper feature details, the new phone has a five-megapixel camera, with a flash for shooting in dim-light. Though Apple's 3G also has a similar camera, it is without flash capability, so Nexus gets another plus point. And when it comes to resolution, Nexus One has got better stand, 480x800 pixels against the iPhone’s 320x480.

As far as power and battery is concerned, Nexus One has removable 1400 mAH battery, charges at 480mA from USB, at 980mA from supplied charger.

According to Google, the superphone has talk time up to 10 hours on 2G and up to 7 hours on 3G. It has a standby time up to 290 hours on 2G and up to 250 hours on 3G. It also claims to have Internet use up to 5 hours on 3G and up to 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi, while video playback is up to 7 hours and audio playback up to 20 hours.

While in case of iPhone the 3GS is said to be a stronger one. It has a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can be charged via USB to computer system or power adapter. The talk time is up to 12 hours on 2G and up to 5 hours on 3G and the standby time is up to 300 hours. For Internet use, it stays up to 5 hours on 3G and up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi. The video playback is up to 10 hours and audio playback stays up to 30 hours.

Pricing

In terms of pricing, Rafe Needleman of CNET opines that Nexus One is way cheaper than iPhone. He writes, “Over two years (the length of a service contract), the unlimited voice and data plan plus the cost of the subsidized phone is $3,799 for an iPhone on AT&T, but only $2,579 for a Nexus One on T-Mobile. That means the Nexus One will cost you $610 less a year.”

Well, both Nexus One and iPhone have a compass and navigation features. Some of the few interesting features in Nexus One (missing in iPhone) are light and noise sensors. They are said to detect the brightness and noise in the environment and adjust accordingly. The noise-canceling technology makes it easier to use in noisy areas, and also helps in energy consumption.

Something unique

Nexus One has got some unique features which gives it higher marks over iPhone again. The Tech Crunch review talks about the Google Voice that is integrated with the phone.

It reads, “That means you can assign your Google Voice number to the phone, and use it to make all outbound calls and text messages. In my opinion this is the single biggest selling point for Android phones. Google’s Voice Keyboard is amazing. It goes way beyond the Voice Search application that was launched in 2009.”

If we talk about the power and processors, it is said that the 3GS is a lot more powerful than the original iPhone, while the state of Android fall a little behind, but not very far.

Global equities research analyst Trip Chowdhry wrote in an article, “We think, there is a near-term headline risk to Apple’s Stock, and it may be prudent for investors with short-term horizon to protect their downside risk on Apple. However, investors with long-term horizon should be fine, as Apple will be able to catch up with Google over the next 6 months or so, and the final winners in Smart Phone segment will be Google and Apple against less innovative company like RIM.”

But a few analysts also say that Apple has got a legacy of smart developers, who work on highly sophisticated applications, and they feel that apart from features, these apps would play a big role in purchase decisions.

And finally, all the comparisons apart, iPhone is available in India, whereas Nexus One is yet to begin the battle in Indian landscapes!