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As a company that has built a business model atop trust, Google is in a sticky position as it prepares to formally introduce the Nexus One phone.

Google's Nexus One phone could be a sea change in how Google works with Android partners who might turn into competitors.

(Credit: Cory O'Brien via Twitter)

Google employees were given free Nexus One phones at a company party Friday night, and the Internet went into a tizzy. Reports surfaced later in the weekend that this device was the long-awaited Google phone, the company's answer to Apple's strategy of controlling the hardware, software, and distribution model with the iPhone, rather than the partner-oriented strategy of developing the guts of the operating system and letting partners each put their own stamp on the finished product.

Just two months ago, Google's Andy Rubin rolled his eyes when asked about an analyst report picked up by TheStreet.com that said Google planned to pursue this exact strategy. He said Google had no plans to make its own hardware--which is one thing since smartphones are almost exclusively manufactured by contractors in China and Taiwan--but he took a further step in spending about 10 minutes arguing why it would be a bad idea for Google to design its own phone and sell it outside of carrier channels.

That line of thinking resonated with many who follow Google and the mobile industry. After all, Google's stated goal for Android ever since the project was revealed in November 2007 was to create an "ecosystem" of multiple phones that would help improve access to the mobile Internet. And Google seemed to finally reach that goal this year, with over a dozen phones in the wild and more promised from some of the world's leading phone makers and wireless carriers.

But if the reports are correct, Google is about to make a radical departure from that strategy. And Google's new course would take it down a path that could sow distrust among the company's Open Handset Alliance partners, who must now be wondering if they're about to get into a marketing war with one of the tech industry's richest companies.

Katie Watson, a Google representative, said on Sunday that the company has confirmed nothing about its plans for the Nexus One, described as a "dogfooding" experiment for internal testing by the company in a blog post Saturday.

In the rush to anoint the Nexus One as the Google Phone, it's quite possible that the tech industry glossed over the fact that Google already sells Android phones, albeit on a limited basis. For quite some time, registered Android developers have been able to buy completely unlocked versions of the G1 and the T-Mobile MyTouch3G (also known as the Google Ion) for $399.

Google does sell some phones, such as the Google Ion, but only to developers for Android testing purposes.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

So there is a solid chance that the Nexus One is merely the Android Dev Phone 3, following the Dev Phone 1 (G1) and Dev Phone 2 (MyTouch or Ion). Just this year, Google handed out Dev Phone 2 models branded as the Google Ion to attendees at Google I/O 2009, but if regular people want to buy that particular phone they have to get the MyTouch3G from T-Mobile with a two-year contract.

It does seem clear that Google has played the premier role in designing the software for the Nexus One. In the company's blog post over the weekend, it said "we recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe."

But the key unconfirmed detail is how Google plans to sell this phone. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google plans to sell this phone unsubsidized on its own, with consumers able to choose a wireless service provider after the fact. However, according to corporate sibling Peter Kafka at All Things D's MediaMemo and Reuters, Google has plans to hook up with longtime mobile partner T-Mobile to help sell the Nexus One through Google's Web site for $199.

How will Google market this phone? Anyone with a television set has likely seen an ad over the last month for the Motorola Droid, an Android phone sold for Verizon's network that has been billed as one of the best Android phones to date. It was also the launch pad for a long-term pact between Google and Verizon that will supposedly produce a family of devices based on Android.

If Google plans to sell the Nexus One directly to consumers, will it insist upon using its brand as the lead brand, rather than the "With Google" branding found on the back of many Android phones? Will it blast the airwaves during the NFL playoffs in January to trumpet the arrival of the Nexus One, perhaps just in time for the Super Bowl? And how will that affect partners such as Motorola and Verizon that have sunk so much money into promoting the Droid, only to see rumors of a Google Phone leak out at the worst possible time: the height of the holiday shopping season?

This could be a very telling moment in Google's history. At the moment, Google's mobile division does not seem to be completely in control of the message it wants to send consumers, partners, and competitors.

If Google really does plan to sell the Nexus One directly to consumers and compete with its customers, it has chosen an interesting way to announce it to the world, keeping the Google Phone rumor mill alive for months while publicly denying such plans. Apple has employed such a marketing strategy for years, insisting on near-silence regarding future product plans but benefiting enormously from the frenzy of interest in every little morsel that mysteriously pops up regarding those plans.

However, Google is not Apple. Google public-relations representatives will sheepishly admit that they have little control over how Google rolls out its products: Google is a company run by engineers, and engineers push the button when the product is ready to ship.

But when you're working in an environment with multiple partners that have competing interests, any confusion over your future plans--especially plans that would appear to yank the floor away--can breed distrust among those partners. One of Google's largest problems right now is that it has built a business model geared around the notion that it can be trusted with almost unprecedented control over the flow of information across the globe, and any cracks in that wall of trust will be exploited by its enemies.

With the way details have trickled out about the Nexus One, Google has either alienated current and future Android partners by muscling in on their turf, or set up thousands of eager smartphone consumers looking for an open alternative to the iPhone for disappointment when they realize Google merely plans to sell an expensive unlocked phone to a limited audience, if at all.

After all, Google essentially declared in its blog post that employees are testing a product with "new mobile features and capabilities" that presumably can't be found on the current crop of phones. It's almost the same language Google used to introduce Chrome OS ("our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be") while insisting that it had no competitive reasons for introducing that Netbook operating system.

Few believed that line with Chrome OS, and fewer still will believe that Google is creating Android for the betterment of humanity if it really plans to sell its own phone.

Technically, we can't blame the loss of Sidekick users' data on a failure of either the concept or the technology of "cloud computing." But Microsoft's clear bungling of basic information management practices (apparently, there were backups--but they didn't work) does cast a pall over not just Microsoft but the cloud concept entirely.

T-Mobile is trying to keep customers' data alive.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)

Microsoft, as one of the giant infrastructure technology companies that's saying through its product offerings that data is safe in the "cloud," has a responsibility not just to its customers but to the growth of cloud computing overall to keep the data it's holding safe.

The company's failure to keep the data safe shows the world how fragile cloud computing is. Even though, really, it isn't. The world knows how to build systems that safeguard data from hardware and software and network failures, and even from hacking and other forms of sabotage. The fact that Microsoft failed to keep the Sidekick data backed up indicates, rather, how management can fail.

But do consumers, or corporate IT managers considering cloud-based services, care where the failure was? All we know is that it failed.

Travel by commercial airliner is neither unsafe nor inherently safe because of the technology itself. It is as safe or as dangerous as the procedures followed to certify and maintain the equipment that people put their life's trust in.

Microsoft's Sidekick outage shows that sadly, in fact, it's true: you cannot trust the cloud because you can't trust the people who run it. It indicates another scary truth: We haven't had enough cloud failure yet. We're going to have more. We need more. We learn from each failure. And we're all thinking the same thing: I hope I'm the beneficiary, and not the victim, of the hard lessons still to come.

Data in the cloud can be safe. And it will become more safe thanks to this outage. Failures of trust, like this one, have costs, but there are benefits as well.

More: Full coverage of the Sidekick data loss

A correction was made to this post. Read below for details.

Photo-sharing site Photobucket announced Thursday that it has inked a deal with T-Mobile that makes it a provider of a mobile photo service for T-Mobile customers. According to the company, users will be able to send photos directly from their mobile phone to their Photobucket album, their PC hard drive, or any e-mail address. To use the app, customers will need to download it onto their BlackBerry Curve, Pearl, or any one of three Windows Mobile devices. The app is available in a free 21-day trial. Once that period is up, subscribers can choose to keep using the free version or purchase the full software for a one-time fee of $19.99.

Community discovery service Citysearch announced Thursday that its new site design and new features have officially gone live. According to the company, users will have access to its new "hyper-local" search that enables them to find and share local information and recommendations with friends in social networks across the Web. The revamped site boasts 150 local city guides and information on over 75,000 cities and neighborhoods nationwide, the company claims. With the help of Facebook Connect, users can sign in to Citysearch with their Facebook usernames and share their local reviews on the popular social network. All of Citysearch's new features are live now on its homepage.

Peer lending company LendingClub.com announced that it has raised $12 million of Series B funding in a round that was led by Morgenthaler Ventures. The company also announced that Pamela Kramer, former chief marketing officer at MarketTools, has joined the company as its own chief marketing officer. LendingClub did not disclose how it will put the funding to use.

Personal finance site Wesabe launched a new version of its financial management tools for banks and credit unions Wednesday. Dubbed Wesabe SpringBoard, the service will offer customers a "smart statement" that allows them to view their account data and guide them in savings and creating financial goals. The service also boasts community features that will allow users to share advice, support, and tips for acquiring more wealth. Along with the software, users will be able to use widgets for the Mac Dashboard or Vista Widget pane to have access to their information. Wesabe declined to disclose availability or pricing information.

Correction at 5:00 p.m. PDT: The Photobucket/T-Mobile deal is not exclusive.

Ubiquitous caffeine conglomerate Starbucks has ended its Wi-Fi partnership with T-Mobile in favor of one with AT&T.

Under the earlier plan with T-Mobile, Starbucks customers needed a paid subscription to access the in-store Wi-Fi service, and T-Mobile HotSpot subscribers will continue to have access to Starbucks Wi-Fi thanks to an agreement between AT&T and T-Mobile. But the new AT&T plan allows all customers 2 free hours per day, with a $3.99 fee for additional 2-hour chunks of time. Monthly subscriptions will cost $19.99 and will enable access to other AT&T hot-spot locations in addition to Starbucks.

In addition, AT&T broadband customers will be able to surf at the more than 7,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. for free. The new Wi-Fi partnership is expected to be introduced gradually at Starbucks locations this spring.

It's an understandable move on Starbucks' part; the coffee chain has a number of deals in place with Apple and its iTunes Store. Apple uses AT&T as the mobile service provider for the iPhone. Rumors of a Starbucks mobile ordering interface for the iPhone have been circulating for months.

The new partnership also extends to the business side of Starbucks: AT&T will also power an "enterprise class" network for internal operations.

(Credit: Twitter)

According to AlternaGeek, and to a CNET reader, T-Mobile is blocking people from sending Twitter updates via SMS. CNET cell phone editor Nicole Lee was just able to update her account from her phone, so whatever block there is does not seem to be universal (or perhaps it has been lifted). We are looking into this.

A workaround for impacted users would be to access Twitter via the mobile Web site, m.twitter.com.

All users will be kicked offline on Saturday when Twitter performs maintenance on its servers.

Via CenterNetworks.

(Credit: Devicescape)

Devicescape is a free Wi-Fi helper service that was announced at the Demo 07 conference this past week. It's designed to take the struggle out of connecting to various commercial Wi-Fi hot spots while on the go. After downloading the low profile Devicescape application to your PC, Windows Mobile smart phone, or Wi-Fi-enabled handset, you can instantly connect without having to manage log-ins or remember passwords.

The Devicescape client works with a number of Wi-Fi services, most notably T-Mobile's HotSpot service, which can be found in over 8,000 locations (mostly Starbucks). Devicescape is at work on interoperability with Wayport, the Wi-Fi service you find at McDonalds, Hertz, and hotels like Hilton and Marriott.

Devicescape is an ideal service for road warriors and prepared travelers. Managing several different hot spots (airport, hotel, coffee shop) can be a pain, which is why automating the log-in process is a great idea. It's also a nice prospect to pair Devicescape with a VoIP handset since managing log-ins on a 12-digit keypad can be a struggle. There is one catch to using Devicescape: You have to know which services you're planning to use and the log-ins for each, which is why it's a service aimed at the prepared among us.

Burn baby burn.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Logging into Facebook to check up on my old college roommate yesterday, I noticed there was a giant message telling me to use Facebook Mobile. Technically, Facebook has had basic mobile features for quite some time (looking at your profile, reading messages), but my friends and I never bothered to use them, specifically because of their lack of support for my carrier T-Mobile. What is new is their mobile tab, which gives you live previews of what different parts of the site will look like on your device. There's also a Fire feature that lets you "set fire" to one of your friends. This won't send them into friend purgatory, rather it sends them a neat status message. It's the equivalent of poking them, and is another useless but amusing Facebook feature for saying hi to people you know in a peculiar way.

I have a few buddies who will get a kick out of the new mobile tab and the firing feature, and I'm sure most twentysomethings with smart phones and corporate data plans will be taking advantage of the mobile interface now that Facebook is actually advertising it. That is, at least until everyone and their brother gets an Apple iPhone in June.