We're already some weeks into the release of Google's Nexus One smartphone. With the first week's sales of the Nexus One falling below expectations, many are wondering how the new smartphone compares to the iPhone. It is very apparent that Google has entered the market with a beast of its own that beats the iPhone in several hardware centered arenas. The real question is whether this gain against its rival will last after Apple releases the iPhone 4G. For the time being, we'll just have to see how it stacks up to the current iPhone 3G.

Let's start with the screen. The iPhone supports a screen resolution of 480 x 320 pixels. While this is certainly enough to allow users to do most tasks and play some pretty fun games, Google's Nexus One has a significantly higher screen resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. On top of that, the device boasts a brighter screen and a longer battery life to support the shine. The average iPhone battery lasts for about five hours when the phone is actively being used. Google's Nexus One, on the other hand, has a battery life of about 6.5 hours of active use time. That is a truly amazing feat, especially when one considers just how bright The Nexus One's screen is.

Moving on to the camera; the iPhone currently features a three megapixel camera. Google takes it one step further with the Nexus One, adding in a five megapixel camera. In many ways, the Nexus One isn't exactly a revolutionary device on its own. Many have said it marks an evolutionary step, bringing many of the best smartphone features together for the first time. Hence the whole buzz surrounding the Nexus One's marketing campaign, "Where Web Meets Phone." More, than just the web, is meeting the phone with the Nexus One. It's a whole suite of improvements.

One very good improvement is the Android Operating System, which is featured on the Nexus One. Many iPhone enthusiasts and developers are bothered by the fact that iPhone doesn't allow users to multitask by keeping multiple applications open at the same time. This can be a problem for online chat applications that need to be kept open in order to function properly. On the Nexus One, users can open and close as many applications as they want, leaving developers with a lot more options to play around with. Android works, in many ways, like your desktop or laptop operating systems. The only difference is its streamlined nature.

Once we start talking about smartphone apps, Apple currently has the upper hand. There are over 93,200 apps available for the iPhone. That's a lot! If you were to peruse the online aisles of Android Market, you would only find 20,000 apps. A huge selling point for the iPhone, ever since its release, has been the fact that there is an app for almost anything you want to do. Since Android is fairly new, the same guarantee cannot be made. We aren't exactly dismissing Android, however. It is very likely that it could catch up to the iPhone in a relatively short period of time.

To some people, the number of apps and widespread popularity of a phone isn't the dealmaker. The Nexus One's Android OS is completely open source, meaning Google has placed no restrictions on the smartphone's application developers. Apple has currently barred any application that uses the 3G connection to engage in Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). On the iPhone, services like Skype that use VOIP to help people save money on long distance phone calls can only be used over a wifi connection. The Nexus One, on the other hand, places no such restrictions on its developers, giving them free reign to create money saving VOIP applications that take advantage of the 3G connection. This is but one example of how removing development restrictions can be a good thing for smartphone owners.

There are more restrictions on the iPhone than just those being placed on applications and developers. When you purchase the iPhone, you have no choice but to have AT&T as your mobile phone service provider. The Nexus One, in contrast, can be purchased without a contract or with a low cost contract through T-mobile. If you are already on a contract, you can purchase the Nexus One for $529 with no contract and take advantage of the better 3G coverage on, say, the Verizon network. Simply put, there are many more choices at a lower cost with the Nexus One.

We aren't going to write off the iPhone just yet. In terms of hardware specifications, the Nexus One is a little bit ahead of the iPhone, but all of that can change when Apple releases the new iPhone 4G. Also, the contract between Apple and AT&T is another point of contention; many more carriers might become available on the iPhone, changing the game altogether.

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