10 things we want to see on the Google 'Nexus' phone

Google might think that calling secret phone development 'dogfooding' is a great idea, but the truth is there's a phone out there in the hands of Google employees.

What's more, this one could actually be released to the public, rather than just the development community - cue the re-ignition of the Google v Apple showdown.

But if that's the case, then the Nexus One / Phone 88 (whatever you want to call the Google phone) needs to be just the right side of awesome if it's to match or beat the iPhone - and from what we've seen rumoured so far, it's not going to be the device to bash Apple back into its little Mac cubby hole.

So here's what we want to see in the first Google phone - there's still time before the device launches to add in our changes, and we will accept an 'inspiration commission'.

1. Make it work as a phone

Much has been made of the smartphone revolution, but all too often an evil by-product lurks in the background - some companies forget the thing has to work as a phone.

Like a Mathematics degree student that spends so much time with irrational numbers that they forget how to add and subtract, certain popular brands have made such kick-ass internet tablets that making and receiving calls doesn't always work.

So come on Google, make sure that when someone phones us on your device the thing a) rings, b) answers the call when we press 'accept' and c) lets us end the call when WE want to.

Multi-touch / pinch and zoom

Forget the brouhaha about whether Apple is the only one allowed to use multi-touch technology - it's making its way to all manner of devices now, like the Palm Pre and LG BL40 New Chocolate.

But in the Android market, it's notably sparse - the Hero is the only one to rock it in the UK, although the UK version of Motorola's Droid - the Milestone - will also pack it as well.

And it just makes sense - it's by far the most intuitive method of navigating through web pages and also allows things like on screen game pads, which are necessary if you want to exploit the burgeoning gaming market on touch-only devices.

[Image credit: Engadget]

2. QWERTY keyboard

Look, we know this probably isn't going to happen, given the early shots of the Google phone show pretty much a re-designed HTC Bravo, and we're sure that doesn't have a keyboard.

But with components getting cheaper and smaller all the time, a phone that would have been considered thin four years ago could now easily conceal a QWERTY keypad.

And why is it important that the Google phone hits this sweet spot? Otherwise it will alienate those business lovers who love to text and email speedily, and that's a massive market RIM is still lording it over. It's not unfeasible to think that a phone could be less than 12mm thin and still have a keyboard - and that would be very compelling indeed.

3. Better camera, fewer megapixels

Bear with us - we have a point. The problem with traditional HTC phones is the company has got the megapixel war all wrong - the rule is either make a cracking camera with fewer MP or an average camera with loads of them.

Instead, HTC brings poor picture quality with higher MP count - and there's just no point in that. Instead, Google should follow Nokia and Motorola's lead - get a better set of lenses in there, add some nice post-snap processing and you're good to go.

It's not like elements such as Google Goggles need masses of megapixels to function - and we know there need to be some compromises with this kind of phone, so we can stomach fewer megapixels if necessary.

4. Turbo-charged Sense UI

The thing with Android being so new (in relative terms) is that we're miles away from seeing what companies can do with it. The early pace setters are Motorola with MotoBlur and HTC with its Sense UI - but we know there's so much more to come.

So come on Google - show us how it can be done. We want to see social networking (Facebook, Twitter etc) merged with our contacts, widgets galore (and the possibility for developers to create more for us) and a higher awareness of location in the native UI.

We're not talking about being stalked day and night by the Google bots, but if the odd GPS update could be entwined with our preferences (such as alerting us when Twitter friends are nearby, or if we're looking for a certain kind of sale when we go shopping) then that would be simply mindblowing.

5. A new browser experience

Don't get us wrong, the native Android browser is a darn fine example, probably second only to the iPhone - and it's also possible to add in Flash video playback as the HTC Hero has shown us.

But we're not talking about the same old topics we've been after for a while - we want more now. So why doesn't Google jump into bed with Layar and offer one of the coolest browsers around - being able to see your (relevant) searches in real time and location?

At the very least, mobile search could make so much more of location awareness, and while we're not sold on the idea of tracking our every input, there's surely the opportunity to integrate Maps, Search and elements of Chrome together to make a browser that can go beyond the simple 'type web page URL, slowly get web page...' procession.

Or we could just see if Mozilla will hurry up and get Fennec for Android up and running - that would be pretty darn good too.