I have been watching this story unfold in the wings for a couple of weeks now. Mostly because it didn’t seem like anyone knew what the heck they were talking about and I just wanted someone to get to the bottom of it. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe any of the reports, it’s just that something seemed fishy.

According to Wired, it now seems that Google will be having a press conference on January 5th, the day that many a blogger proposed would be the release date of the infamous “Google Phone”, Nexus One. At this press conference we may see what Google is going to do for their plan to market and sell this phone.

The Nexus One may be sold a tad differently than normal US handsets. Rather than being subsidized by a specific carrier, the phone may be sold directly by Google at an unsubsidized price. The phone would then need to be activated on a GSM carrier such as AT&T or T-Mobile. Yet some others are speculating that since Google has a good relationship with T-Mobile, that the Nexus One will be available at a subsidized price through them. This is where the Nexus One doesn’t seem to add up but here is what we know so far.

Killing Industries

If Google decides to release their own phone (it’s actually HTC hardware) they will potentially alienate their partners such as Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. By providing a their own handset at an unsubsidized cost they are essentially taking the middle man completely out of the picture.

What I personally see happening is pure “creative destruction”. Google is trying to change the face of mobile and cloud-based technology; they are releasing a device and just using the cell phone carriers as “data-pipe” for the Android user experience. This means that in the long run Google will try to create and sell (or even give away for free) new devices that run on any network. This could be a nightmare for smartphone manufacturers and even the carriers because as 3G penetration grows and becomes more reliable only cost will matter in the long run when consumers decide what carrier to go with (here that Verizon?).

Contention, you better believe it

As Google’s mobile takeover pans out in the near future, we will see how protective cell phone companies and handset makers are over their fragile businesses. I am sure that if Google keeps moving forward with their mobile takeover (which they will) eventually these companies are going to sue or make their fears known to the US Government where they will have to battle some type of anti-competitive suit.

So, will Google actually release their unsubsidized Nexus One on January 5th to start a mobile takeover of the United State? Probably, yet they are definitely in store to fight some older industries over their disruptive business behavior. These are some exciting times and it will be interesting to see how this pans out in January.