Google has sold last Nexus One

Google claims to have achieved all its aims with the Nexus One

Google has sold its last batch of Android-based Nexus One handsets, ending its direct sales experiment with the product, and availability as a whole in the US.

Earlier this week the firm confirmed that it would cease sales. The Nexus One site has now been updated with the message: "Sorry, folks...The Nexus One is no longer available for purchase directly from Google."

The handset will continue to be sold in six countries on the Vodafone network, including the UK, France and Germany. But the Google web pages are empty of information for US residents that may want to pick up the Nexus One, and the device is no longer listed on T-Mobile's site, the original US operator.

T-Mobile suggests that Nexus One fans instead consider Motorola's Android-based Cliq or a Windows Mobile HTC HD2, or visit Google's site.

Google has said that it has no plans to launch another smartphone, having achieved all it set out to do with the Nexus One. Specifically, the firm said that it wanted to "introduce a beacon of innovation among Android handsets, and to make it quick and easy for people to buy an Android phone".

According to analysts, these aims have been met. Speaking last week, Tim Shepherd, an analyst at Canalys, said: "Google did a good job of minimising the fragmentation [of Android], which is very important in the early stages of a platform."

The smartphone was updated recently with a flush of upgrades to the features in its operating system.

A bump up to Android 2.2 saw the Nexus features boosted with support for turning it into a mobile hot spot, the ability to run Flash within its browser, and a number of usability upgrades.