As of Jan. 14, a number of eBayers were peddling these smartphones for a much more realistic $300 or so, and I've even seen a price as low as $212. There were more than 300 Nexus One devices listed for sale. By comparison, the site offered 1,519 listings of iPhone 3GS devices that were also not tied to a carrier contract. Some of the more reasonably priced Nexus One offerings have garnered more than 10 bids; I'd counted a total of about 100 bids for the phones that were listed today.

The take-away: When the iPhone, for example, came out, it took expense and some effort for people to unlock it prior to selling it via eBay. So the iPhone typically sold for a premium to the retail price for weeks after coming out (with the exception of damaged iPhones). Nexus One discounts -- on new, undamaged phones -- seem to have arrived much more quickly. And it's unlikely resellers will be able to make an extra buck. I wouldn't expect to see an extensive resale market for the Google phone.

The relatively low number of bids may also indicate low interest in the device from shoppers from other countries. Google plans to make the phone available in other countries later in the year. Currently, the smartphone is only available in the U.S., and I suspect most of the people bidding for it on eBay live elsewhere.

The results represent a stark contrast to consumer sentiment of only a few months ago. In August, 7% of consumers were contemplating buying an Android device, while 21% of them were considering the iPhone.

The splash that Motorola's Droid phone, based on Android, has made recently is partly responsible for increased attention that Android is getting. "In August 2009, just 22 percent of mobile users had heard of the Android, while in November 2009 this figure had reached 37 percent, largely prompted by the Verizon Droid advertising campaign launched in the fall," according to the report. Android may get a further boost next year, when more Android devices should come onto the market. While the Android movement could still get derailed -- for instance, if Google decides to release Android phones under its own brand -- it certainly appears to be on the right track now, and rolling along with an ever-increasing speed.

It's the latter winner that's perhaps the most surprising: Today, most mobile device makers and carriers still claim that mobile security of mobile devices isn't a problem. But analysts say it might become a big issue as early as next year, as the number of smartphone users explodes. Clearly, Google agrees with the analysts' view.

WaveSecure's software looks to be particularly helpful to users whose phones get lost or stolen. It allows users to track down a phone's location and who is using it, lock down the phone remotely, back up and remotely wipe out the data. Oh, and the software lets users restore the data, too.

Here's why this is huge news: Until now, Android Market has not been as good at attracting smartphone users as the legendary Apple App Store, which now offers more than 100,000 apps to Android Market's 12,000. Most developers I've talked to say their Android Market sales have been tiny. The best apps have only sold thousands of copies in the Android Market vs. millions in the App Store. But all that well may be the thing of the past.

Devices that can tap into the Android Market have improved, and become easier to use: myTouch 3G represents only one of a bunch of new, compelling gadgets based on Android software developed by Google and its partners that are coming out en mass. What's more, Android Market's functionality has improved, and should evolve further in the next few months, making the store easier to use for both developers and consumers. Perhaps the Android Market will prove to be a Cinderella story yet.

In particular, that's likely to be Verizon's much-anticipated new Droid phone that was introduced this morning. Mobile expert Greg Sterling of Opus Research, who like me attended a pre-briefing yesterday at Google, notes that the service could give Verizon at least temporary bragging rights over the iPhone, advantages it has been touting in recent in-Steve-Jobs'-face ads on the Droid. "It's going to be a strong competitive differentiator in the short term," says Sterling, who's impressed by the navigation service.

In fact, the service offers bells and whistles beyond those of dedicated navigation devices, such as integration with Google's Street View, satellite imagery, and the ability to search destinations by name rather than address. For that reason, TomTom, Garmin, and the rest of the dedicated GPS navigation crew have even more reason to worry than Apple.

Google didn't rule out offering the service on the iPhone and said it's working with Apple but didn't provide a time frame or any promise that a similar service for the iPhone would be forthcoming. Vic Gundotra, Google's vice president of engineering for mobile and developer, said the software has "stringent" hardware requirements.

Anyway, here are the features of Maps Navigation, from Google's press information site (Google's blog post is also up now):