• Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, January 6, 2010 10:48 AM

Google introduced its new, thin, touch-screen branded mobile phone -- Nexus One -- yesterday and opened a new online phone store where consumers can buy it directly. It runs on the company's Android OS, unlocked and capable of running on any system. Google is lining up operators to offer wireless plans through its site, Jessica E. Vascelaro and Niraj Sheth report.

Online sales of cell phones will change the business "just the way Web stores revolutionized how you buy something like a digital camera," says Andy Rubin, a Google vp. Nexus One costs $529 without wireless service; if consumers commit to a two-year contract, T-Mobile is offering it for $179 plus $79.99 a month for 500 voice minutes and unlimited data and texting.

Writing in Ad Age, Michael Learmonth and Rita Chang say that Verizon and Vodaphone in the U.K. will begin selling the phone in the spring but observe that Google may have to shoulder the bulk of the marketing effort alone despite having multiple partners. "We focus the lion's share of our device-related marketing dollars on T-Mobile-branded devices and T-Mobile-inspired experiences," says a T-Mobile spokesman. Other brands are likely to feel the same way.

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