Availability

Let me get the bad news out of the way first: firstly, the Nexus One is not yet available for purchase in Australia. Google have yet made any specific announcements in terms of an international release beyond stating they will expand into other markets throughout 2010.

Secondly, the phone is currently not compatible with Telstra's NextG network. If however you are an Optus or Vodafone customer, and absolutely must have a Nexus One right now it is possible to order the phone from Google's website and have it delivered to Australia with a bit of work.

Whirlpool have created a wiki page covering the process, but in short you need to order the US$529 Nexus One direct from Google by using a HTTP proxy located in the US. You utilise the shipping address of a mail forwarding service in the US, who will then charge you a fee to forward the item on to Australia.

I utilised comGateway who delivered the phone to me for US$46. The entire process – from placing the order on Google's website through to having the phone in my hands – took five business days.

Final Thoughts

Many people will ask “Is the Nexus One an iPhone-killer?” but I don't feel this is really a fair question. To really be a “-killer” it surely needs to do everything the old device did, and in the iPhone's case that means syncing with iTunes. Apple work very hard to lock everyone else out of their software, so that is obviously not going to happen. If you are happy with iTunes then you clearly are not going to be switching to Android.

For the rest of us - who either are indifferent to iTunes or would really prefer not to use it – the Nexus One is a compelling alternative with few major negatives. The UI is responsive to the touch and supports multi-tasking. Coming from the iPhone, the applications are all pretty similar in design and require almost no time to adjust to.

Bottom line: the Nexus One has replaced the iPhone in my pocket as my full-time phone, and I really cannot see myself going back. More than anything, the Nexus One is a pocketable computer that I can use as I see fit.