Mobile Technology

Google puts back its Nexus One launch in the UK

(THE INQUIRER ) - BUMBLING SMARTPHONE ENTHUSIAST Google has delayed the UK launch of its flagship Android device, the Nexus One, which could kill any chance of success it might have had in Blighty.

The Nexus One was due to appear on these shores in the second half of March but it has now been put back to mid-April. The smartphone is available to British punters direct from Google in California but you’ll have to shell out on import duties on top of the handset’s cost.

For Google, the Nexus One seems to be a Jonah in its portfolio, getting the device’s maker, HTC, into hot water with Apple. First came reports of poor 3G performance which, depending on who you speak to, might or might not be fixed. After posting lacklustre sales figures in its first month, Google enraged Jobs’ Mob further by issuing an update that brought fixes for its aforementioned connectivity problems and more pertinently, multi-touch capabilities to the Nexus One.

Apple’s Steve Jobs laid down the law, first by ranting that Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ policy was “BS” and then by going after the firm by proxy of HTC. The bad news continued for Google as bailed out money peddlers Goldman Sachs cut its sales estimates for the Nexus One by 43 per cent to 1 million units worldwide. For Google it must seem a lot longer than 10 weeks since the firm’s new device garnered almost universal praise.

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