According to Neowin, March 23 is the day a Verizon Wireless version of the Google Nexus One will begin shipping. It is unclear from the story whether Verizon will be selling its Nexus One directly or if the CDMA version will only be sold through Google’s current retail portal.

This information is not official and was given to Neowin by “a Google worker who wishes to remain anonymous.”  But we do know that the Nexus One has always been destined for Verizon Wireless.

From the Google Nexus One Blog:

Starting today, Nexus One users will begin to receive an over-the-air software update on their phones. This update provides some great new features, and fixes a few problems that some users might have experienced, including:
Google Goggles: this mobile application will now be available directly on your device by launching it from your All Apps menu. Just use your Nexus One camera to start searching the web
Google Maps: the Maps application with be updated to a new version, Google Maps 3.4, which will include:

• Starred items synchronized with maps.google.com – access your favorite places from your phone or computer
• Search suggestions from your personal maps.google.com history – makes it easy to search for places you’ve searched for before
• Night mode in Google Maps Navigation – automatically changes your screen at night for easier viewing and driving

Pinch-to-zoom functionality: devices will now include a new pinch-to-zoom mechanism in the phone’s Browser, Gallery and Maps applications

3G connectivity: we will provide a general fix to help improve 3G connectivity on some Nexus One phones

In order to access the update, you will receive a message on your phone’s notification bar. Just download the update, wait for it to install, and you should be all set. This update will be rolled out gradually to phones…

Today Google and HTC officially announced the worst-kept tech “secret” of 2010: the Nexus One Android Smartphone.  The new device, which has been known to exist for weeks, features a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, GPS, Wi-Fi, an array of sensors, and a 5MP digital camera with autofocus and LED flash. 

The Nexus One runs Android 2.1, and is the first smartphone to do so.  New OS features include Facebook and Picasa integration, Quick Contacts, animated wallpaper, a new standard news/weather widget, a tweaked app launcher and additional homescreen panes.

Voice support has also been added for all text entry, so you can dictate anywhere you can type, and more applications are voice-aware for spoken commands. 

The Nexus One is being sold both unlocked directly from Google ($529) or under contract with T-Mobile service ($179).  Verizon Wireless will begin offering a version of the Nexus One in the spring. 

Learn more about the Nexus One Android Smartphone…

Google is expected to announce its first branded phone on Tuesday, the Nexus One.  And the upcoming smartphone has, to say the least, generated a great deal of Internet buzz.  Sure, we all love Android (well, many of us do), but as the device’s release grows near, I’ve been wondering more and more…

What exactly is the big deal about the Nexus One?

The excitement, it seems, centers mainly on Google’s reported decision to claim the device as its own.  All previous Android-powered smartphones have been products touted and sold by their respective manufacturers/carriers, so there would seem to be something about the Nexus One that sets it apart – enough for Google to stamp the device with its logo and sell it unlocked directly to users, an unprecedented move. 

Could that “apartness” be as simple as hardware specs? The Nexus One, according to what information we have, is certainly a high-end phone, with features like a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, an OLED touchscreen display, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. 

Or could there be something else about the device that makes it Google-worthy?

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