After a flurry of rumors and leaks, Google has finally stepped into the light and shared with the world the Nexus One “superphone,” a collaborative device with HTC.  Let’s jump straight to the facts, shall we?

The Nexus One sports a 3.7-inch AMOLED display (480×800), 1GHz Snapdragon processor, compass, GPS, accelerometer, light and proximity sensors, stereo Bluetooth, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an LED light source under the trackball for notifications.  It also comes with two mics (one on the bottom, the other on the back) for noise cancellation purposes.  It packs a 1400mAH battery that promises 5 hours of 3G browsing and 7 hours of 3G talk time.  When you order the device you have the option to engrave a custom two-line message on the back, just like Apple lets you do with the iPod classic, touch, and iPhone.

For now, the Nexus One is teamed with T-Mobile and sells for $179 with a new two year contract.  You also have the option to purchase it unlockedfor $529.  It will work on AT&T but without their 3G service because it only supports T-Mobile’s 3G in the US.  It is available today for purchase straight from Google.  Big news is that it’s coming to Verizon Wireless (and Vodafone) this spring.

Obviously the Nexus One runs Google’ Android mobile OS.  What’s so special about it is that it’s the first phone to run version 2.1, a much more polished version of Android 2.0.  2.1 includes live wallpapers, home screen panels, 3D photo galleries, Voice-enabled text fields, and a zippier and more handsome experience.  Unfortunately like the Droid, the Nexus One software does not include multitouch, though it definitely could handle it.  On a different note, Google promises that a future update will allow users to save apps on external storage devices like SD cards.

So what’s the verdict?  After having read many reviews it looks like the Google-HTC Nexus One is the phone to get if you’re all about Android.  It is not an iPhone killer, and Google is quick to point out that that is not the phone’s intention.  Google supports a large ecosystem of different phones, and they welcome the heavy competition the iPhone brings to the table.  So, if you are all for the Android OS, I’d take the Droid on VZ or the Nexus One on T-Mobile.  Of course you could always wait for the latter to make its way to VZ this spring, can’t you?

[Via Engadget & Gizmodo]