Google has had a mobile phone software platform, Android, available for a while now, and a number of cell phone companies are using it on their phones.

But this is the first time Google has come out with a consumer hardware device. (Note: It also has something called the Google Search Appliance, which is a computer running Google for your Intranet, but that’s for companies).

The New York Times posted a review of the Google Nexus One by David Pogue at their Personal Tech section.

Pogue says the Nexus One has a number of improvements, but not enough to put it in a different category from the Apple iPhone.

Home Screen

The phone is $529 without a plan, and $179 with a T-Mobile contract for two years. It’s roughly the size of an iPhone.

Features

Some of the new phone’s features:

• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• Removable battery
• Camera with flash
• 480×800 pixel screen (vs. 320×480 for the Apple iPhone)
• Voice recognition software which allows you to dictate into any program on the phone.
• Onscreen QWERTY keyboard with word completion
• YouTube, GMail, Google Maps, and Facebook integration.

The Google Nexus allows the user to choose his own GSM provider (unlike the iPhone, which is tied to AT&T). But there’s only one GSM provider in the U.S. with 3-G speed: T-Mobile. Users in other countries might be able to take more advantage of this feature.

Google has a webpage at google.com/phone which has a Flash application that simulates how the Nexus works.

Related posts:

1. Google Nexus One and Android Get Multi-Touch
2. Motorola’s New Backflip Phone Is a Mini-Netbook and Handsfree In One
3. Google Expands Its Tentacles Buying Cell Phone Advertiser AdMob