Google whistled up an honest-to-God press conference complete with lunch, something that's very un-Google, to unveil its iPhone 3G-contesting, potentially Android-cannibalizing "Super Phone," the Nexus One smartphone.

The Android 2.1-based, HTC-produced widget has a 3.7-inch touchscreen, 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SD card expandable to 32GB and a five-megapixel camera. It runs on Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon chip, includes both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, syncs with Gmail, Google's calendar and contacts and GTalk, integrates turn-by-turn Google Maps driving directions and will accommodate Google Voice.

Google said it didn't design the phone, HTC did, but Google means to sell an unsubsidized Nexus One for $529 direct at google.com/phone and let users make their own carrier arrangements - though whose may be an issue since it currently doesn't work on Verizon, Sprint or AT&T 3G network. Still Google's plunge into retail is probably what has competitors worried the most given its traffic.

Chrome netbooks and content could be next.

The Nexus One will also be sold initially for $179 online from T-Mobile, the U.S. arm of Deutsche Telekom, with a two-year contract for $79.99 a month ($1,820) for 500 minutes of conversation and unlimited data and texting, with Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone Group in Europe coming into the program in the spring.

Gizmodo says if a user backs out of the plan before four months pass it'll cost $350, the difference between the subsidized and unsubsidized price.

The device probably costs between $300 and $400 to make.

Google expects to profit by way of search and advertising. Mobile searches are supposed to represent 2.3% of the North American market by the end of this year and 1.8% globally.

Features include such things as voice commands in place of typing, fancy animated wallpaper and a high-resolution screen.

The widget will be sold in the U.S., the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore to start.

Reviewers say the Nexus One is the best of the Android phones so far. If nothing else, iPhone has polished apps, memory, storage, heftier battery life and better skills with music, video and games.