Google's long-awaited stab at bursting the iPhone bubble with its Nexus One smartphone will see the light of day in the UK next month, according to reports.

As already announced, the company’s first own-brand mobile phone will only be available through Google.com/phone. There are no tariff details at the time of writing, but have not been announced, but clearly prices will be in the same bracket as comparable iPhones.

Google is hoping that the Nexus One will firmly cement its Android operating system in the market, as a competitor to the Apple iPhone and Microsoft’s Windows Phone system.

Vodafone, the search giant’s UK partner for the launch, was thought to have been keen for a March launch, but now that timescale seems to have slipped.

 Slow early pre-sales interest has been put down to the fact that, with Google handling sales and marketing of the Nexus One itself, it has not benefited from the same intense marketing effort which helped get the iPhone off to such a storming start.

 Google has already taken a leaf from Apple’s book by announcing that the Nexus One would be updated to include multi-touch web browsing, a very popular feature of the iPhone.