Google Phone to Hit Stores Next Year

So what is this mysterious new product? According to reports, it is Nexus One, Google’s first attempt at a cell phone that it will sell directly to consumers, with software designed entirely in-house.

The phone is being manufactured for Google by HTC Corp., reports said. It runs Android, the operating system for mobile phones that Google developed.

But unlike the more than half-dozen Android phones made by phone manufacturers today, Google designed virtually the entire software experience behind the phone ice separately.

Google has designed virtually the entire software experience behind the phone, from the applications that run on it to the look and feel of each screen.

The direct sales move by Google could alienate wireless carriers and handset makers that offer Android phones and do not want to compete with Google, WSJ said adding that Google has repeatedly said that its goal is to have hundreds of Android phones rather than one.