Nexus One -- We will miss you!!

The Nexus One is DEAD. And there is no Nexus 2 planned. This is so sad. Sometime back, I had blogged about Nexus One being the closest competitor to Apple's iPhone had. Little did I know, I will be writing this post in the same month. Moreover, the recent positive news around Android 2.2 launch, announcements to retail Nexus one with Verizon/Sprint had led me to believe that Google would be making some more serious investments in it's phone business.

But then I found this floating around,

Alas, the Nexus One never lived up to its promise and the expectations set for it. Great software that can also be found on other Android smartphones, combined with weak hardware, a marginal wireless provider, and a weird Web-only sales model doomed the device to failure. <Link>

Before I dissect other things, Weak hardware, really?? Nexus One, with Android 2.2 was lightning fast. The author obviously did not check for facts. 

But was nexus was a complete DUD? If Not, why did Google pull the plug on it?

Android emergence as the platform OS of choice for smartphones was a big win. It was not only fast, but designed bottom up to offer the user a great user experience. Then why? Sales are being cited as one reason. That could be true, at least partially.  Did mighty Google fail to execute on the field plan for its shiny,shiny phone? Or it was just about showcasing Android supremacy? We will never know.

While, I agree Andriod's  ubiquitous presence on the smartphone of today is not the only reason to keep Nexus One alive. There are bigger things at play here. 

Just for a moment, if we were to take a step back and analyse Apple's new iPhone 4 offering.  

By now the much publicized antennaegate ("death grip") problem, out dated features (Hats off to the marketing whiz kids at Apple for pushing through features of yesterday with so much pomp. A 5 MP camera in version 4 phone? Multi-tasking OS? Who would have thunk?) But still, Apple has built some serious street cred, and the numbers are beyond impressive. The fan boys and fan girls have done their bit in keeping the AAPL stock rocking the NASDAQ charts over last year.

What Apple has done is something everyone should learn from. They do not have the latest and greatest hardware, and they are not the first to the market by far. Yet, they have paid an insane amount of attention to user experience, and all the other things which everyone thought were not important. They took their time. Did not rush it. And they have got it right. The results are there for everyone to see. They have changed the game not by being first to the market, but by being last one of the blocks.

Why is all this important?

It is because, whether you like it or not, smartphones are the converged devices of the future. The place where all your Apps live. And I can't see HTC (with all the goody-ness of Android), Nokia, Sony, Palm or anyone else (Microsoft Kin?? :D) coming close to pushing Apple off the the throne. The only true competitor I saw who could inspire such a paradigm shift and aim for the Apple's pie, was Google. 

I might be wrong. (Hopefully, I am!)