It’s been over a week since Google launched its Nexus One smartphone, and the results are in. What happens when a company whose expertise lies in search and advertising decides to jump into the snakepit that is the cellphone business? It’s not pretty.

A “nexus” is a means of communication between things linked in a series. The problem here? It’s hard to make a connection between Google’s usual practice of giving away free services on the Web while selling ads — and developing a cellphone operating system and marketing handsets that cost $530 unlocked ($179 with a 2-year T-Mobile contract). There’s a missing link here. For Google to think it could just jump right in is just downright naïve.