Google set to unveil the Nexus One

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Internet search giant Google is set to launch its much anticipated Nexus One Tuesday, a move which will directly challenge Apple's iPhone.

The phone will be unveiled at an invite-only event at the Googleplex headquarters in Silicon Valley. The device will go on sale on Hanuary 12 across the U.S., though no date has been announced for other markets.

While Google's Android software is currently built into a number of devices, this will be the first phone designed by Google itself. It offers web-browsing, music and video playing facilities and, like the iPhone, a host of applications which may be downloaded from the Android marketplace.

Unlike the iPhone, Android's applications don't have to go through an extensive review before they can be distributed to Android-powered devices, a contrast from the control that Apple holds on its hot-selling mobile device.

Google plans to sell the phone directly to consumers over the internet, leaving it up to the buyers to pick their own carriers, according to reports published in technology blogs and major newspapers. The price is expected to be in the region of 529.99 U.S. dollars.

In addition T-Mobile has agreed to provide a subsidized Nexus One that works on its wireless network, according to published reports. It may also prompt other U.S. wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel to subsidize the device according to technology analyst Rob Enderle.