Nexus S: The Lackstory

Hey, who’s that guy in the pink shirt at the start of this video?  Oh, it’s Matias Duarte, up for air from the Google labs where he’s been tasked with improving the user experience of Android.  Google finally released details on the Nexus S and Android 2.3 Gingerbread today, along with some videos like this one to tell the backstory.  Duarte been director of user experience too long to not show up here, but I suspect he’s being a bit disingenuous when he talks about Gingerbread as intended to bring the most clean, polished Android experience to users.  By most accounts, Gingerbread offers very few UI changes.  More likely, Android 3.0 Honeycomb will provide a change that would be worthy of such a description and one that Duarte could claim as his own.  That doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to be negative about Gingerbread, though.  For starters, if I drew up a list of things that absolutely had to be fixed in Android, the stock keyboard and text selection would be high on that list.  For Google to address those head-on is a nice sign that they do listen to consumers about specific changes that will benefit everyone.

Though it isn’t likely to have a lasting impact, the Nexus S looks to be an excellent phone from Google.  With so many terrible skins being put atop Android, it will be nice for developers and T-Mobile customers to have a “pure Google experience,” as well as a new operating system.  It remains to be seen if the curved screen has any real advantage or appeal, but at least Google worked closely with Samsung to deliver a phone that they can bear responsibility for.  One of the more interesting parts of this video is where the Google engineer credits being able to work closely with Samsung in order to deliver a great experience.  I wonder if this will be closer than they worked with HTC to make the Nexus One.  I’m using a Nexus One as I write this, and I’m still shocked by how terrible the touchscreen is.  While I have been critical of Android’s touch responsiveness, in this case I’m referring to a hardware issue.  The screen on the Nexus One has terrible tracking and isn’t nearly as good a touch experience as HTC phones that came out just months later.  The other irony, of course, is the implication that by having a hand in both hardware and software they can deliver a better experience, something that Apple has been standing by for some time now.

Still, when it’s all said and done, it’s better to have a Google-branded phone out there than not to have one.  The Nexus One is still an overall excellent phone a year later, something that can’t be said for many Android phones out there.  What’s more, Google has already promised a Nexus One update within weeks, which is a welcome relief from the uncertainty that hangs over other handsets.  With the phone available only on T-Mobile, it probably won’t be a big seller, but in a few months the source code will be released and it will be only a matter of time before customers on rival carriers will have skinned Gingerbread to love and hate.

*UPDATE*

According to the Engadget liveblog of the D: Dive Into Mobile conference, Engadget asked Andy Rubin directly about the Matias Duarte influence:

8:10PM Us: You brought Matias Duarte over from Palm — is he going to clean this up?

Andy: I think you’ll see the fruits of that investment soon.