Nexus One: A New Grail for the Littlest Hack Station?

It’s all over the news; Google finally has an Android to call its own. The media is throwing around terms such as iPhone killer, but that doesn’t seem altogether likely to me. Perhaps it will level out to a PC vs. Mac sort of scenario. This actually sounds plausible as in my research I came across news of a project working on porting Mac OSX 7 to the iPhone, and the great big thing with Android back when I got mine was running Debian on the G1.

Specs-wise, the Nexus One looks to be the clear winner for the next littlest hack station. The Nexus One sports a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor with 512mb of RAM. I don’t know about you, but I still have servers with those sorts of specs running my day-to-day functions. The Android G1, which has done a fine job as littlest hack station, has a 528 MHz processor with 192mb of RAM. The thing I don’t like about the iPhone is the technical specifications page. They give me information about fingerprint-resistant, oleophobic (Microsoft Word doesn’t even think that is a word) stuff, but not a word about the processor speed or RAM. Other websites high on the Google hits quoted 600 MHz processor with 512 MB RAM for the current model 3GS. This only matters in the short term though. Smartphones are the new computers (way more than orange is the new pink), and everybody knows when you buy the cutting edge computer it becomes obsolete on the drive home from the store. A year from now, there will be a new iPhone and, if it makes it, a Nexus One Point One.

While there have been things worth jailbreaking that have not been jailbroken (the GPU of the PS3 comes to mind), odds are good that if people with the know-how are interested in jailbreaking the Nexus one, they will. The iPhone was first announced in January 2007, and by August 2007 the first, albeit complicated, unlock had been completed with the first jailbreaking application for 3GS appearing less than two months after the phone was announced. As for Android phones, a fix for a flaw that allowed users to run instructions as root in the Android operating system on the G1 was released in November of 2008, while the G1 was first released towards the end of October 2008. Work on hacking the G1 has continued with rooting applications, downgraders, custom firmware, full Debian installs, and other cool stuff. However, there seems to have been little interest in the community in working on later Android models.

The problem with keeping the secrets of these Smartphone operating systems hidden from curious hackers forever is they are Unix based, or in the case of iPhone OS, Mac OS based which is in turn Unix based, and hackers built Unix. While manufacturers may not be down with hackers using the full capacity of their devices, it’s just a fact of life. With enough community interest and talented minds, it seems inevitable that the full power of the Nexus One will be available to us in the near future.

With more hype behind Android, it is likely there will be at least some converts from the kingdom of iPhone to the Republic of Android. One thing the Android Market has going for it is freedom for developers. There has been much woe from all sides pertaining to Apple’s requirement that all apps including updated versions of existing apps go through the lengthy approval process. While it is a deft argument that this process actually helps to protect users from security breaches by reviewing apps for potential malware, iPhone could also be dubbed a security killer. What happens when a popular application is found to have a major security flaw in the code? The developers cooperate with researchers and fix the problem, but then the updated version sits in the approval queue while malicious attackers exploit the vulnerability. Many developers including, some security conscious types, will no doubt see the appeal of Android’s open market resulting in more apps for Nexus One.

There’s no doubt that the Android G1 is an enjoyable little hack station. “Is she texting, or is she reading all your web traffic?” is a worthwhile question if you are connected to a public access point. More information on becoming Starbucks Wi-Fi is here. (Disclaimer: Only with permission, never for evil, proof of concept, etc. etc. etc.) With additional interest and hours from the community to integrate the hardware with available tools, the sky is the limit. So, is the Nexus One an “iPhone killer?” Probably not. However, it is in a good position to have a solid foothold in the smartphone market and be a fun tool for hackers.