Google Smartphones
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Google Nexus S
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While Google isn't itself a handset manufacturer, as the driving force behind the Android smartphone operating system it has put its full weight behind the brand.
The first smartphone to carry the Google brand was HTC's Google Nexus One, launched early in 2010. Fast and powerful, it enjoyed reasonable success among the first wave of Android handsets.
This was followed up late the same year with the Samsung-made Google Nexus S, boasting a similar yet slightly beefed up spec to the popular Samsung Galaxy S.
As for the company itself, Google was founded by two Stanford University graduates in the US in 1998. From pretty humble search engine beginnings, the company has grown into an incredible internet phenomenon. It went public (on NASDAQ) in 2004, with revenue reaching well over $20 billion for the past few years.
Use interface (UI)
As we mentioned above, Google is the main name behind the open source smartphone and tablet operating system Android.
While the operating system came along shortly after the Apple iOS, which had already been seen in great gadgets such as the iPod Touch, it didn't take Android long to start competing with it head-to-head.
Apple's operating system had the advantage of a well established online store, The App Store, as well as the integrated iTunes for downloading and organising music. This has seen Apple lead the way in sheer numbers when it comes to downloadable choices for applications to add to your smartphone.
However, what Android lacked in experience it made up for in diversity, with the likes of HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola making handsets with the OS in place. This meant that app developers soon saw the benefit of operating on the platform - in the long run, Android handset sales were going to overtake Apple.
The Google Android smartphones to date have shown what the Android OS is capable of in its raw form, highlighting the OS itself (and, of course, Google's impressive range of apps) rather than the tweaks each other manufacturer has added along the way (it is open source, after all, meaning the likes of Samsung can add their own ideas to each handset).
Applications (apps)
This, of course, is what Google is most famous for. Whether you're using its incredibly successful Google Search tool, using its online email service Google Mail (or Gmail) or finding a route using Google Maps, the company has had massive success in the online app market.
It's smartphones bring these applications front and centre. Often specifically tailored for the smartphone market, its cloud-based apps are ideal for handsets (cloud-based means that most of the work is done at their end and transfered to you over broadband, meaning you don't use up your much coveted memory space).
Deals
As Google doesn't exactly churn out smartphone after smartphone, you may not find many Google handset deals around at one time. However, whenever Google releases a new phone, you can be sure Broadband Genie will have all the latest deals available.
