Reuters reported that a source indicated a January 5th on-sale date for the Nexus One, with pricing reduced for customers agreeing to a T-Mobile USA service contract from Deutsche Telekom.
Skeptical? Sure. It was only a couple of weeks away, but Google had surprised before. Google Goggles rolled out days after it was first rumored, so nothing was off the table.
A comment from a community member around the same time offered some additional pricing speculation:
Here’s the price: $199 unlocked in stores. $100 rebate online if you have an active and old Google account. That $100 rebate is either to buy it $99 online from Google’s online phone store, for using on Android Marketplace or for using on any Google Checkout stores. Can also be used for T-Mobile or AT&T pre-paid Data SIM card service at $29 per month, no contracts required.
Google will push full VOIP usage on these, meaning no voice/SMS plans needed at any carrier. Voice calls will go through Google Voice on Data SIM cards and will provide unlimited free voice calling. And SMS is replaced by unlimited free Gtalk.
Finally, Google will provide easy roaming data services in other countries. For example, if you go to Europe, you can roam on HSDPA data networks for the same price of 20€ per month, and if you only stay in Europe for a few days you won’t need to pay for the whole month.
None of this was confirmed at the time, but the speculation reflected just how much anticipation had built around Google’s first direct-sale device.
