Today the world was introduced to the Nexus One. If you haven’t alread heard, this is the phone that Google is selling directly to consumers. Typically, in the United States, when someone wants a phone they find a carrier and then go sign up for a plan and get a phone. Google is attempting to completely shift the paradigm by selling a very function device that can be used between carriers. That way, a person can take their phone with them.

However, if you decide to become a Nexus One owner, it is going to cost you. The cost of the phone itself without a plan is $529. If you sign up for a two year contract from T-Mobile, the phone starts at $179.

The price might seem steep, but you are getting quite a bit in return. Google is referring to the Nexus One as a Superphone. Andy Rubin VP of Engineering at Google stated, “The Nexus One belongs in the emerging class of devices which we call ‘superphones,’ with the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ chipset making it as powerful as your laptop computer of three to four years ago. It’s our way to raise the bar on what’s possible when it comes to creating the best mobile experience for consumers. We look forward to working with handset manufacturers and operators to bring more phones to market through this channel worldwide.”

And the chipset is not the only thing that the Nexus One. The Nexus One comes packed with features. One of the most notable features is that the device is completely integrated with voice recognition. If you want to navigate to the nearest pizza palore, all you say is, “Drive to Pizza” and the Nexus One recognizes your voice command, opens Google Maps and starts telling you turn by turn directions.

The device also has a removable battery. That might not sound like a big deal, but for anyone who has owned an iPhone or an iPod, you can understand how nice it is to be able to pull the battery without having to crack the case open.

The screen is rather incredible also. The Nexus One touts a 3.7″ AMOLED 480×800 WVGA display. For a cell phone that is truly out of this world.

The Nexus One is also thin. 11.5 mm thin to be exact. And with a battery it is only 130 grams (that’s only 4.5 ounces). The Nexus One has 512 mb of flash memory and 512 of RAM. It also has a SD card slot that accepts up to 32 gb SD cards.

The camera is also quite notable. Its a 5 mega pixel autofocus camera with an LED flash. It also takes video in MPEG4 format for posting directly on YouTube.

You can also connect your phone with your Google Voice account (something that iPhone users are still unable to do thanks to AT&T). This allows you to have your voicemails transcribed for you so that you do not have to take the time to listen through them.

The only thing that I noticed that the Nexus One does not do is run apps from the SD card. This means that your are still limited to the amount of internal memory in the device for apps. Google has released this phone with Android 2.1 and we were hopeful that this update would change this. However, it looks like for the time being Google has not made this an option. Maybe in future editions, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Here’s a list of many more features for you to check out. If you want to see the phone in action, check out Google’s page for the Nexus One.

The Nexus One runs on Android 2.1, a version of the platform’s Eclair software, which offers advanced applications and features including:

Google Maps Navigation: offering turn-by-turn driving directions with voice output.
Email: multiple Gmail accounts; universal inbox and Exchange support.
Phone book: aggregate contacts from multiple sources, including Facebook®.
Quick Contacts: easily switch between communication and social applications.
Android Market: access to more than 18,000 applications.

In addition, the Nexus One introduces new functionality and software enhancements:

Enter text without typing.
Use a voice-enabled keyboard for all text fields: speak a text message, instant message, tweet, Facebook update, or complete an email.
Tell your phone what you want it to do.
Search Google, call contacts, or get driving directions by just speaking into your phone.
Take personalization to the next level.
Dynamic, interactive, live wallpapers react to the touch of a finger.
More widgets and five home screen panels allow for further device customization.
Capture camera-quality pictures and video with your device.
5 megapixel camera includes LED flash, auto focus, zoom, white balance and color effects.
View pictures and Picasa Web Albums in the new 3D Gallery.
Record Hi-Res MPEG4 video, and then upload to YouTube with one click.
Read your voicemail messages.
Get transcribed voicemail with Google Voice integration, without changing your number.

Pricing, Availability, and Future Plans

Nexus One is initially available from the Google web store in the US without service for $529 or starting at $179 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile USA. In the near future, Verizon Wireless in the US and Vodafone in Europe plan to offer services to customers in their respective geographies. Today, consumers can go to www.google.com/phone to learn about the Nexus One and place an order. We will initially take orders from consumers in the US and three other markets – the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

In the coming months Google plans on partnering with additional operators, offering consumers access to a broad set of service plans. In the future we expect to launch more phones with Android handset partners and to expand the web store to more countries.