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The numbers are in. Analytics firm Flurry is comparing sales figures for the most popular smartphones in the first 74 days on the market. Flurry estimates sales based on downloaded applications featuring its embedded analytics technology.

According to the report, Google sold only about 135,000 Nexus One phones in the first 74 days, compared to roughly 1.05 million Motorola Droid’s sold during the same time frame. For comparison, Apple sold about 1 million units of  the original iPhone.

Overall the results are an impressive statement for Android and resonate with the recent ComScore report showing Android’s market share growing to 7.1% in the US.

So why is the Nexus One struggling?

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You can now get a Nexus One from the Google phone store that is compatible with AT&T’s 3G frequency bands.

To clarify: Even though T-Mobile and AT&T are both using the GSM standard for their mobile networks the radio frequencies for their 3G data networks are different.  For the consumer, that means you’ll need to buy a carrier specific phone in order to get 3G access .

A Verizon CDMA version should become available within days. I think this is the first time that the same phone (name, packaging) will be available on three different every major US mobile network. This should make things really interesting on eBay as people buying used Nexus One’s will have to make extra certain they are getting the one that works with their chosen mobile provider.

Update: Sprint just announced that they will also be getting the Nexus One.

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.