From today, Vodafone UK customers can order the Nexus One, the new superphone from Google, at vodafone.co.uk/nexusone, Vodafone announced today, in a boost for the operator beaten to Apple's iPhone by O2.

Vodafone is the first European mobile operator to offer Nexus One. Vodafone's customers who pre-order online will be the first to get a Nexus One for free on a £35 monthly price plan (24 month), on April 30. The Nexus One will also be available via Vodafone stores and telesales, with Vodafone providing direct support to customers with the superphone when they need it.

Nexus One will be available on a range of Vodafone price plans, on both 18 and 24 month contracts. Price plans start from £25 a month on a 24 month contract.

Vodafone UK customers with the Nexus One can use up to 1GB of mobile data as part of their price plan as well as take advantage of unlimited access to Wi-Fi in the home and free, publicly available services throughout U.K. Customers using Wi-Fi can also use an additional 1GB of data at premium BT Openzone hotspots throughout the UK.

Nexus One features Google Maps Navigation (Beta), which offers satnav-style turn-by-turn driving directions with voice output and Street View. Also included are other favourites like Google Mail, YouTube and access to Android Market with more than 40,000 applications.

Vodafone will also begin selling Nexus One in France (SFR), Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain soon, Google added.

Google also said there are no longer plans to offer a version of the phone that uses the Verizon Wireless network in the United States.

"In the US, if you?ve been waiting for the Nexus One for Verizon Wireless? network, head over to http://phones.verizonwireless.com/htc/incredible to pre-order the Droid Incredible by HTC, a powerful new Android phone and a cousin of the Nexus One that is similarly feature-packed. It will be available in stores on April 29th," Google said.

Nexus One Hardware Features

* Display: 3.7" AMOLED 480x800 WVGA display
* Thinness: 11.5mm; Weight: 130g
* Processor/Speed: Qualcomm Snapdragon 3G QSD8250 chipset, delivering speeds up to 1GHz
* Camera: 5 megapixel auto focus with flash and geo tagging
* Onboard memory: 512MB Flash, 512MB RAM
* Expandable memory: 4GB removable SD Card (expandable to 32GB)
* Noise Suppression: Dynamic noise suppression from Audience, Inc.
* Ports: 3.5mm stereo headphone jack with four contacts for inline voice and remote control
* Battery: Removable 1400 mAh
* Personalized laser engraving: Up to 50 characters on the back of the phone
* Trackball: Tri-colour notification LED, alerts when new emails, chats, text messages arrive