Android Event Scheduled For January 5: The Google Phone Is Nigh

Invites just went out for an Android event at Google HQ, scheduled for a week from today. They don’t mention the Nexus One, but they don’t have to.

The event looks like a proper announcement party, if not a full launch – demonstrations are on the itinerary, which is unsurprising given that Google has been handing out Nexus Ones left and right. (and that we’ve already played with one.) The meat of the announcement, presumably, will be about how they’re going to sell it. We now know that the phone will be “supported” by T-Mobile, but we don’t have a full picture of the rate plans, contract situation (if any) or, obviously, the price.

Also interesting: they’ve scheduled this right at the beginning of CES. To the tech press, most of whom will be lampooned in Vegas by then, this is a minor annoyance. To everyone planning on making waves at the conference, this is more than an annoyance, it’s a crippling blow: Google could steal the show at this year’s CES, like Palm did last year. The difference is, they won’t even be there. [AllThingsD]