Google starts selling Nexus One in Canada

Google today announced the availability of its flagship Nexus One smartphone on the AT&T network and on Rogers Wireless in Canada.

The company is offering the Nexus One directly to consumers for use on either of the two networks for $529, without any telecom subsidy in sight at least for now. There is no comment from the two carriers as to whether or not they would subsidize the device.

The Nexus One is currently offered exclusively through T-Mobile in the U.S. priced at $179 on a two-year term.

Google originally announced it intended to offer a version of the Nexus One for use on the Verizon network by spring 2010. Reports today indicate the Verizon version could launch on March 23, 2010.

 Related to the Android platform, Verizon is preparing the release of the highly anticipated Android 2.1 upgrade for the Motorola DROID that will be available to consumers free of charge via a convenient over-the-air installation.

A comprehensive list of the most significant features appeared today on the Verizon website (PDF link), which shows the latest version will get pinch-to-zoom, just like the iPhone, new weather and news widgets, voice-to-text, a new 3D image gallery, Yahoo e-mail support, live wallpapers, among other enhancements and features.

The Motorola DROID is already available in Canada as the Motorola Milestone and is offered exclusively by Telus.

The news today of the availability of the popular Nexus One device in Canada and with support on new U.S. networks, competition in the mobile space continues to intensify.

A new survey report published by Crowd Science noted 40-percent of mobile phone users who participated in the survey said they would abandon their BlackBerry device for an iPhone, while 32-percent said they would opt for the Nexus One. The survey also showed iPhone and Android users were the most loyal to their current phone and said they would not switch brands. The total sample size of the survey was 1,092 people, we can therefore assume the results are normally distributed.

Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry, previously enjoyed a competitive edge by offering superior mobile messaging and email technology.

Today, competitors such as Google have developed other technologies such as IMAP idle to deliver push email to mobile devices without infringing on RIM patents.

As a result of these innovations, phone-makers like Apple are now able to offer advanced mobile communication such as push e-mail in phones (the iPhone, specifically) that are far more consumer friendly and fun compared to the BlackBerry platform. In all fairness, the BlackBerry really is an enterprise centric phone and works best in an enterprise enviornment, but as the consumer segment is bigger than ever, the company must find a way to make the platform more appealing to the average consumer, something even executives would favor.

According to the latest smartphone market report by comScore, RIM has the largest market share in the U.S. at 45-percent, with Apple second with a 25-percent share as at three-months ended in January 2010.