Living in a post-iPhone world, every new cellular product introduction is met with the question, "Yeah, but can it beat the iPhone?"  Google's new Nexxus One phone is certainly no exception, but it may very well be the first phone we have seen that can give Apple a run for their money.

For those of us who "live" on the internet, and who may have become a slave to Gmail and Google Calendar, this phone comes ready to improve our lives right out of the box.  While still WAY behind Apple in terms of applications, many of the fairly "cool" smartphone applications are already in place, but OEM applications may have a LONG way to go before every product manufacturer decides that they need to support both Apple and Android.  Other Android offerings announced in early 2010, however, make this platform a bit more promissing for applications development.

The new Google phone sports a 3.7 inch AMOLED display with blacker blacks than we are used to seeing.  The 480x800 resolution screen offers more than twice as many pixels as the iPhone 320x480 screen making for a very crisp and readable display.

The phone's Android 2.1 operating system running on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor makes for a very snappy interface and a great out-of-the-box user experience.  Android 2.1 now allows multiple third-part apps to run simultaneously, a serious weakness of the iPhone.

The 5 megapixel camera with LED flash produces a fairly nice photo, and the trackball gives users an alterative to the touchscreen interface. The device is 11.5 mm thin and about 130 g.

Whereas all other iPhone competitors (and the iPhone itself) are limited to just one cellular network, the powerful Google branding on this phone means that it might be the first "consumer" smartphone to be successful on multiple networks, starting with T-Mobile and then Verizon.

Will the Google Nexus One "beat" the iPhone in the marketplace?  The answer is "probably not," but it won't be for lack of features or lack of speed.  The real question is whether any phone can beat the Apple iPhone branding, and in this regard, Google has the best chance, and by offering the phone on multiple networks, it gives those who may be unhappy with AT&T's service and rate-plans another alternative that is both fairly cool and that they can be proud of showing off to their friends.  If Verizon, Google and Motorola (and other Android-based offerings) can continue to erode the AT&T/iPhone partnership as "old-school," then we believe that Google has a shot to emerge as the next big thing in cellular.