Nexus One 'Superphone' hits market

Google has jumped right into the middle of the technology arena with its Nexus One smartphone introduced on Tuesday. Actually it is called a "Superphone" that's in a higher class of devices. But it's going to be difficult for any company to set its device apart nowadays from the iPhone and other Android phones on the market. By now, you're probably already sick of reading about the Nexus One, but a couple of talking points jumped out at me. It has a processor rated at 1 gigahertz, which should be one of the fastest mobile phones around. Other smartphones are in the 400 to 800 megahertz range. I'm also curious as to what Google has in mind, as it tries a new approach at connecting with consumers. And the company has indicated that are more products coming to its Google-branded online store. In case you missed the debut of the Nexus One this week, it's available at Google's Web site for $529 without service or $179 through T-Mobile. Verizon will come onboard later this year. New gadgets at CES During the Consumer Electronics Show that kicked off Thursday, there has been plenty of technology news coming from the Las Vegas Convention Center. All the major electronic and gadget players are there - pumping out news about the latest technology, such as 3-D television, e-book readers, and get this, smartbooks now join netbooks in the mini laptops arena. The smartbooks will bridge the gap even more between mobile phones and full-size laptops. As expected, the Android platform continues its march forward, with AT&T announcing five new devices from Dell, HTC and Motorola. But a car company also muscled its way into the spotlight with some pretty impressive technology. Ford shows its vision The keynote speech was given by the CEO of Ford Motor Co., who shared some of the vision for the automaker's SYNC technology in Ford vehicles and rolled out the MyFord Touch interface. The Ford SYNC technology has been around since 2008 and is now in its second generation of improvements for connecting your mobile phones and MP3 players to your vehicle. The MyFord Touch technology will add Internet capability to select vehicles with an in-car Wi-Fi receiver. After borrowing your wireless modem from your laptop and inserting it into a USB port in the vehicle, your passengers can be surfing the Internet and checking e-mail while you're driving. If you're parked, you'll be able to use the vehicle's touchscreen display and to do your browsing. If you don't have a wireless modem, just pull up outside a Wi-Fi hotspot. The other twist is that you'll be able to access applications on mobile devices such as the iPhone, the Blackberry and Android-powered phones. So if you're using apps like Pandora Internet radio, Twitter and Stitcher on your mobile device, get ready to do it all in the car. I'm sure other automobile manufacturers will have their own version of SYNC technology. On the General Motors front, Chevrolet and OnStar have rolled out a smartphone application to work with the upcoming Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle. Some of the Volt app functions will include setting the charge time and displaying mileage information. I wonder if purchasing a vehicle in the future will be based on technology instead of the usual criteria. Ford would want you to think the driving experience is going to be like being in the cockpit of a fighter jet. We also can look forward to radar-controlled collision avoidance systems. But this will open up a new pop culture for these computers on wheels. I can hear the conversations now. The car is locked up. I think it has a virus. It needs rebooting. [http://www.clarionledger.com/]