Google To Unveil New Mobile Phone

Internet giant Google is set to launch its latest mobile phone. The Nexus One is the first smart phone designed by the company's own engineers and is expected to be unveiled at a press conference at its headquarters in California on Tuesday. The company has remained tight-lipped about the phone but photographs and reviews have already appeared online after handsets were given to Google staff for testing. It has been given decent reviews, with gadget fans describing it as thinner and lighter than Apple's iPhone and praising its five megapixel camera. Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with research firm Gartner, said one of its main selling points is that it would be available from Google itself, allowing users to decide which network they want to sign up with. She said: "The difference from the previous Google phone is Google will sell it directly. You buy the phone and then choose what Sim card you want to put in." It is expected the phone will also be available, at a subsidised price, from networks. The launch of the Nexus is seen as Google's latest bid to promote the Android operating system which it designed in 2007 and which is already used on other phones, including Motorola's Milestone. Ms Milanesi said: "For Google it is about selling services from navigation to Gmail. They don't want to be a phone manufacturer. We have other devices that already use Android but this is going to be about the full Google experience that other devices don't give because they are not so closely linked." It is not clear when the phone will go on sale in the UK.