The Nexus One was noteworthy for two reasons: 1) it was a stock-standard Android device, the model of which formed the basis for a whole bunch o' high-end Android devices since, and 2) it was sold carrier-free.
Industry analysts say, and equipment makers privately agree, that the key suppliers will probably live on -- although as smaller enterprises -- by focusing on products and services pegged to equipment they have been selling the carriers for decades.
I stayed there for almost a year selling plastic carrier bags, trying to raise money for the rest of my journey.
We took a look around the web ourselves and found two Chinese companies doing the same, one selling Burberry carrier bags and the other Calvin Klein.
The company bills itself as a carriers' carrier, selling capacity to more than 62 telecoms such as Cable & Wireless, Sprint and Deutsche Telekom.
Devices that are sold through carriers are blocked from downloading the Ovi Store software, so you must instead browse through the Ovi Store's mobile Web page on your phone.
And in that vein, the devices that are being sold via carriers are continuing to get bigger.
Older Apple iPhones sold by carriers and on secondary marketplaces, meanwhile, more than suffice for many teens and are priced lower than the new models.
Nvidia: Tegra is a mobile internet device platform that runs Windows Embedded CE, and devices will sell from carriers for as low as $99 USD.
And though Global billed itself as a network operator, it lacked big corporate clients and acted more like a construction company, dependent on laying new fiber to sell to carriers.
