Nexus One Price, Plan Details Leak

Prepare to pay $180 + $80 per month

A couple of the mysteries surrounding the forthcoming Nexus One/Google phone may have been solved. Information related to the price of the phone and its plan has leaked, and assuming the details are accurate, the device should line up pretty well with the existing marketplace.

Here's the bad news: rumors that Google would offer a cheap or free phone weren't confirmed. The standard monthly fee doesn't look like it will be trivial, either, meaning the Nexus One may not be as revolutionary as many people expected.

Instead, according to Jason Chen, consumers will be asked to pay $179.99 for the Nexus One if they lock into a two-year contract with T-Mobile for $79.99 per month. Or they can choose their own service provider, but they'll have to fork over $529.99 for an unlocked phone.

Still, these prices aren't so high that ordinary people wouldn't be able to get their hands on the Nexus One. Indeed, the T-Mobile prices should make the Nexus One competitive with the iPhone, so if the hardware measures up, Apple may find itself with a serious rival.

Hopefully we'll get firm numbers and a much more solid idea of the Nexus One's capabilities on Tuesday at the Android press gathering.

By Doug Caverly