New iPhone spurs Google to launch Nexus One before rumoured March release date

We’ve just had a word with a source at Orange UK who told us that Google’s first handset, the Nexus One, may make an appearance before its rumoured March release date…

We’ve seen plenty of leaks about the Nexus One so far; pictures, videos, hands-on impressions – the whole shebang, and then there’s those Google launch event invitations dated January 5th, so we expect to get a full an unabridged introduction to the Nexus One on Tuesday.

Until now we’d been hearing that March was the earliest that the big-G would be releasing
the handset into the wild, but following our conversation with our ‘mole in-the-know’ it now seems Orange is planning to get the handset on the shelves as soon as possible, which when pushed translates to mid-late February.

The reason behind the push is apparently Google’s desire to get its first phone on sale months in advance of a new iPhone announcement, and given the success of Apple’s handsets thus far and the lure of the Apple brand, it’s a legitimate enough concern.

In case you’d missed until now, there’s an overview of the Nexus One’s specs below. We will, of course, keep you updated if we hear any news before the Mountain View launch event on Tuesday next week.

Pic courtesy of Engadget

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