With a sly mention of a "mobile lab" on its blog over the weekend, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has reignited rumors about the introduction of a smartphone from the company.

On Saturday, the company revealed that it has been sending a test device from one of its hardware partners to employees to test out new Android features. Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management at the firm wrote this on the blog:

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

The speculation is that High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) (Taiwan: 2498)'s "Nexus One", currently with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) , is the Google Phone. Google, HTC, and T-Mobile US Inc. -- the operator that is supposed to be carrying the phone -- haven't yet confirmed any of these details, however.

So, it's not yet clear that the Nexus One is indeed the Google phone rather than just another HTC Android phone. — Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung