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A number of Android developers have complaint about the ‘flaky’ multi-touch behavior of the Nexus One touch screen, which differs from the touch screen calibration issues reported on the Google support forums.

I didn’t notice either problem, so far. Even the new pinch-to-zoom feature works flawlessly on my N1.  Then earlier this week the following video surfaced that  shows how to reproduce the problem with an app called Multitouch Visible Test, created by Robert Green of Battery Powered Games.

I downloaded the app from the Android market, and sure enough I was able to reproduce what is shown in the video. It seems that the Nexus One touch screen gets confused when your fingers get too close together on an axis using multi-touch. That’s not something you’d notice when zooming in and out on maps or pictures, but with games this could be an issue.

Is this a hardware or software bug? As it turns out, it’s neither – it’s a limitation of the touch screen hardware used in the Nexus One. The same problem was already reported with the “original” Google phone the G1. The touch screen used in both phones only supports two-finger touch gestures (e.g. pinch, pivot, rotate), so it’s really a side effect of dual-touch vs. multi-touch.

There may be a way to overcome this hardware limitation with an improved software algorithm that better tracks all touch movement, but for now this is a non-issue for my everyday use of the N1.

And all you Droid owners, it’s your time to brag – as this is not a problem on the Motorola Droid.

Google is acknowledging the importance of its Android-App-Eco-System by awarding free phones to selected app developers.

“Due to your contribution to the success of Android Market, we would like to present you with a brand new Android device as part of our developer device seeding program. You are receiving this message because you’re one of the top developers in Android Market with one or more of your applications having a 3.5 star or higher rating and more than 5,000 unique downloads.”

For the US market Google will randomly award either a Droid or Nexus One, while in Europe and other GSM only markets developers will receive a Nexus One.

Why is Google doing this? As it turns out many app developers still don’t have access to the latest devices running Android 2.x and it’s in Google’s best interest to have a flourishing app market with as many applications that take advantage of the latest features that Android 2.x has to offer.

A number of blogs are speculating that the long anticipated ship date for the Nexus One on Verizon might be March 23rd. The date sounds plausible as it would coincide with the first day of the International CTIA Wireless Expo in Las Vegas, and Spring officially starts on March 20th .
Other evidence is a recent FCC approval of a CDMA device that seems to resemble the Nexus One.

I can’t wait to compare the 3G performance of the current T-Mobile GSM version against a Verizon CDMA model and see if the signal strength and 3G performance is still as sensitive to environmental factors e.g. holding the phone. The unreliable 3G connectivity and general network performance is probably my biggest gripe with the N1 right now. I have not observed any touchscreen problems as other people reported.

I figured this now warrants an extra post after there’s been much discussion on the Google support forum. It is absurd that Google keeps trying to put the blame on T-Mobile. The video below clearly shows that 3G network connectivity is fine until you firmly hold your phone in your hand.

Here’s an excerpt from my recent forum post.

I’ve been saying all along that this is a RF issue. I noticed this right away when I got my phone and even posted this video on Jan 9 to show how the N1 drops 3G as soon as you hold it in your hand.

The problem occurs only when you are in an area with a weak 3G signal, anything less than -80dBm. (Higher negative numbers mean weaker signal.)

Basically, if you have -90dBM or less signal strength with the phone sitting on your desk, holding it in your hand will push it down to -100dBm or less. At that point all bets are off. Before the update it would switch to Edge around -100dBm, now it seems to hold on until about -105dBm.

The “dBm” (dB-milliwatt) is a logarithmic measurement of signal strength, and dBm values can be easily converted to and from mW values. So a decrease of roughly 3dBm yields a change of roughly HALF in the mW value.

1mW = 0dBm
-96dBm = 0.0000000002511mW

In essence, the difference between a -80dBm signal and a -100dBm signal is HUGE. Check it out yourself here.

So here is my big question: Why is the N1 getting such a weak signal in solid 3G territory, and why does the signal degrade that much more when holding the phone in your hand?

IMHO the recent update just tweaked the switching thresholds, while the actual problem may be rooted deeper in the RF guts of the Nexus One.

See bottom of post for latest video. The Nexus One 3G saga continues. Kevin has a great post over at his jkontherun blog.

So over the span of the last three days, I’ve been testing my handset using the SpeedTest application from Xtreme Labs — available for free in the Android Market — and also watching the data indicator on the phone. Aside from testing in Philadelphia, I’ve also tested in various San Francisco neighborhoods and in Phoenix. Every single testing location used was squarely in a solid T-Mobile 3G coverage area — no fringe areas, for example.

And in every location, I saw either miserable 3G speeds, signals bouncing between 3G and EDGE, or — even worse –both.

He also setup this poll to track how many people still experience this problem, and whether the OTA Update provided a fix for some.

I can’t wait for Verizon to release the Nexus One or any of the other new HTC and Motorola Android phones that are in the pipeline. Having been on Verizon for so many years I started to take their excellent network coverage for granted.

Update: I created this short video clip to better illustrate how the OTA Update has not fixed the 3G problem, and how this problem can be easily reproduced. Just cover the  bottom / backside of the phone – you know the way you might hold your phone when answering a call – and a perfectly fine 3G signal disappears.

CNET compares the Nexus One with the iPhone 3GS. Guess who is winning?!