A nexus is a link or means of connecting things; it can also mean the core or centre of something. So the first significant mobile event of the new decade: the launch of Google’s initial Android phone - the eagerly awaited Nexus One - pieces together almost all that is great and good in the mobile device world. This is undoubtedly a superb piece of engineering. The bar gets raised yet again and we’re hardly out of the starting blocks for the year!

Ergonomically, the Google Phone as it is being called, just slips naturally into the hand with its all-round soft curves rather than the hard edges of, say the Motorola Milestone. At 130g the Nexus One is lighter than an iPhone (136g) and Milestone (170g) as well as being narrower and thinner (at 11.5mm) than these two most striking competitors.

All the boxes of a futuristic smartphone are ticked - albeit with a few compromises and zigs where some people would prefer to zag. Not least is the fantastic 3.7 inch widescreen, AMOLED screen, delivering 720×480 pixels resolution. Arguably crisper and clearer than any other display on the market, it delivers touchscreen responsiveness definitely in the ballpark of the iPhone and, moreover, it is fast.

The combination of Android 2.1 sitting above a Snapdragon CPU clocked at 1GHz with 512Mb RAM and ROM really does enable you to zap through opening up applications and then moving between them, even on EDGE, where 3G is unavailable.

Its multimedia credentials, are quietly competent rather than superb - such as the 5 megapixel, autofocus camera with LED flash and its 32GB memory card capacity. Among the bells and whistles is an interesting Android application called Google Goggles: it tries to recognize what is in photos then generates search results about them. Goggles can currently recognize landmarks, books, contact information, artwork, places, wine and logos at the moment and Google is apparently aiming to add other types of objects, such as plants!

A lively little feature that has certainly captured the blogosphere’s attention is what are called “live wallpapers”, already featured on Motorola’s Droid. Nexus One has a choice of 10 such animated images that can evolve throughout the day, for example. Probably more significantly, it offers excellent noise cancelling, a proximity sensor (so you don’t accidentally press buttons when it is up to your ear) and a highly effective speakerphone.

Where the Nexus One really impresses, though, is in what could be called its charisma – if it could walk into a crowded room, heads would most definitely turn. Its Teflon-coated back and sides are simultaneously rubbery and tough yet soft and almost sensuous – a strangely compelling tactile experience.

The Nexus One has scrambled up to the top of the greasy pole for now. We await what Samsung’s new Bada operating system will deliver in the Spring or early Summer. So 2010 looks set to be, if not exactly a space odyssey, then a fascinating journey though all that is faster, snappier and wow-ier in the mobile device world.

Google Nexus One deals

Vodafone’s announcement that it will offer the iPhone 3G, 3GS and variants on its network from 14 January continues the inexorable drive towards ubiquitous UK availability for Apple’s flagship handset.

After exactly two years of iPhone exclusivity enjoyed by 02, Orange stepped up in November 2009. Now Vodafone has joined the fray – Tesco also put in an appearance in December – with pricing plans for the iPhone 3G 8GB, the iPhone 3GS 16GB and the iPhone 3GS 32GB, with the phones free as part of selected contracts.

Customers who pre-order will enjoy free Vodafone to Vodafone calls for the duration of their contract – we’re looking at two years at £45 per month for a 16GB 3GS, for example, or £35 per month for an iPhone 3G 8GB. You can also expect 1GB of free mobile internet on one of the UK’s largest Wi-Fi networks, BT Openzone, ostensibly providing high-speed internet access at premium locations across the UK.

The iPhone 3GS, of course, improves on performance from the iPhone 3G - it can be up to twice as fast, plus a longer battery life, a 3 megapixel autofocus camera, video recording and hands-free voice control. Vodafone has also introduced a charge for customers wishing to use their iPhone as a modem – tethering charges start at £5 for 500MB.

The iPhone is a true phenomenon of the decade just ending: it is available in over 80 countries worldwide, with the promise of more developments to come. The App Store broke new ground, too, providing access to more than 100,000 applications (from games and social networking to financial planning and health management) and has already generated over two billion downloads to date.

With its network of 20 dealers (some 400 outlets) in the UK, indirect partners such as The Carphone Warehouse and Phones4u, plus Apple’s own retail outlets, Vodafone is confident it can deliver something extra – presumably in term of speed and reliability - to its iPhone customers. Guy Laurence, CEO of Vodafone UK commented: ‘We started preparing our network over a year ago so that iPhone customers will really feel the advantage of being with Vodafone.’

We await to see how Vodafone’s network, along with the competition, copes as consumers get used to relying on internet-enabled smartphones and mobile dongles for broadband data.

Compare all iPhone 3GS deals

Some great news from Affordable Mobiles. They now deliver all free gifts next day along with your mobile phone. Previously, customers had to send off their first paid bill in order to claim their free gift or cash back.

Free gifts include the iPod touch, Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, 42 inch HD TVs and a range of laptops. Affordable Mobiles offer a wide choice of mobile phones too, and delivery is free with every purchase.

Affordable Mobiles is part of Shebang Distribution Ltd. With over 400 employees they are one of the largest independent mobile phone connectors in the UK, turning over in excess of £100 million per annum.

With over 18 years experience in the telecoms industry, Affordable Mobiles offer consumers an array of competitive mobile phone deals, which include; contract, prepay and sim free mobile phones, mobile phone accessories, mobile broadband and fixed line telecoms including home broadband.

Visit affordablemobiles.co.uk

It’s that time of year again when someone associated with Taiwanese-based manufacturer HTC lets slip a few snippets of things to come. In the spirit of minor civil servants and junior ministers leaving confidential files on trains, the HTC “roadmap” has flashed its way through the ether, raising eyebrows as it passes.

Five Android and three Windows Mobile handsets are due to hit the streets in the next six months, continuing HTC’s decision to spread the load between the less favoured mobile operating systems.
We are currently talking the Legend, Salsa, Bravo, Tide and Buzz for Android; the Trophy, Photon and Tera for WinMo. The names will no doubt be changed before launch to protect the innocent and confuse the rest of us.

If the specs are to be believed, the bar stays high and the norm just got tastier, notably with the use of the Qualcomm processor platform in three of the handsets and 256 Mbytes’ RAM in the Androids.Take the Bravo due next April, sporting a big, big 3.7-inch capacitive AMOLED display that will muscle into top-of-the-range spot for HTC. It is set to be a multimedia powerhouse with DivX support and superior video recording, fuelled by a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. Internet will be via 3.5G/HSDPA, with quad-band roaming potential and a 5 megapixel still camera.

The Tide, also expected in April, is to be equipped with 3.5G/HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and quad-band, again with a touchscreen (QVGA, 2.8-inch), 3 megapixel camara and, like the Salsa and the Buzz, a 528 MHz Qualcomm CPU. The Salsa – due in June 2010 - will be less pricey, so consequently less exotic, but still full-featured. It is likely to offer 3.5G/HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS, plus a 2.6-inch landscape QVGA touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard among its goodies.

The 11.4 mm thin Legend is scheduled to be first out of the traps in March, with a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen and 5 megapixel camera. Connectivity, again, will be 3.5G/HSDPA with Wi-Fi and GPS: HTC is determined to make GPRS/EDGE so old hat.

The Buzz, due in May, will be quad-band, 3.5G/HSDPA with Wi-Fi and GPS, too, with a 3.2-inch touchscreen display with QVGA resolution and a rear panel that will have some swap around ability for the fashion conscious.

Pride of place in the Windows Mobile 6.5 stable will be the Trophy, due in May, with a full QWERTY keypad, 3-inch capacitive touchscreen with VGA resolution, 5 megapixel camera and top-notch connectivity via 3.5G/HSDPA, Wi-Fi and quad-band roaming to name but a few. Its brother in arms is the Photon, due in April, except the screen here is larger at 3.2-inch though with lower resolution (HVGA).

The successful Touch Pro2 has had its feature set slimmed down and resized to form the Tera, with its 3-inch resistive touchscreen and 3 megapixel camera. But even its cut-down functionality does not mean compromising on 3.5G/HSDPA internet connectivity, Wi-Fi and GPS.

So HTC is upping the ante in 2010, in speed, in video capability (720 pixel HDTV recording) and consistently of connectivity and everyone looks set to be a winner.

View all current HTC phones

Update - Now available in two colours; black or hazlenut. 3 launched Britain’s first £9 plan on 23rd December. Customers can get a free Sony Ericsson G502 (was previously a free K660i) with a mix of 100 minutes or texts per month for just £8.81 line rental.

It’s being advertised as £9 a month to fit in with their pricing of other tariffs, which are based on old VAT rates. But with VAT now reduced to 15%, line rental is actually £8.81. So, even better vlaue for money.

Now, The Carphone Warehouse Group is preparing to launch a similar deal on T-Mobile. For £8.99 per month users will get a free phone with 100 minutes and 100 texts per month on an 18 month contract. It’s not yet known what handsets will be available or whether the £8.99 will include VAT at 15%.

Compare Sony Ericsson G502 deals here

All of the UK’s mobile phone networks have reduced their monthly line rental, passing on the 2.5% reduction in VAT. VAT has been reduced from 17.5% to 15%, which equates to an actual saving of 2.13%.

It’s going to take a little while for all retailers to update their web sites so over the next few days you might notice some discrepancies. The important thing is that the new lower prices will apply when you receive your bill from the network.

Orange Canary 30 for example, now costs £29.36 per month. The price of phones has also been reduced and Orange has rounded down the cost of all phones to the nearest 50p.

T-Mobile has reduced prices but is continuing to show deals at the old prices for the time being. All new and existing customers will see a reduction on their bills from 1st December. PAYG customers will receive extra credit at the end of each month depending on how much they have topped up.

Vodafone are also passing on the VAT saving to all customers and line rental will be reduced by 2.13%. PAYG customers will receive an extra 2.5% extra credit when they top up, which is actually more than the effective VAT saving.

3 are passing on the VAT cut for all of their products and services. The cost of phones and tariffs will continue to be shown at the old prices for the time being, but you will pay the new, lower price. So if a phone costs £99.99 you will actually pay £97.86. A tariff advertised at £18.00 per month will be charged at £17.62. PAYG top ups offer extra credit, so if you top up by £10.00 you will receive £10.18 of credit.

O2 are passing on the VAT reduction. The new prices may not be displayed on all web sites immediately.