Ever since the release of Apple’s iPhone earlier this year, the Internet has been abuzz with talk of a new Google cell phone. It seems that now those rumors are quickly becoming a reality. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google Inc. has been in talks with various phone manufacturers and service providers to produce what at least one industry expert has labeled “The GPhone.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is seeking a line of mobile phones that will use a selection of its online applications such as Google maps, YouTube, and Gmail. Industry experts are estimating a Google phone will be available sometime in mid-2008, though Google itself has remained mum on the subject.
With Google already dominating the online search and advertising industries, the Mountain View California company now seems to have turned its attention to your cell phone. Experts see this step as a part of a far more ambitious plan by Google, to incorporate paid advertising services with free online applications such as YouTube mobile or Gmail mobile.
Additionally, there is talk of including independent third-party developers in the overall Google strategy to help create new cell phone applications for use in the new Gphone.
It will be interesting to see which type of business model Google chooses for its new cell phone. The company has been openly critical of the US market’s policy of “locking” cell phones to a specific service provider. Could Google be on the verge of instigating an “open source” cell phone policy in the US? We can only hope so. Europeans have enjoyed “unlocked” cell phone use for years, and it is primarily the United States that has resorted to the ridiculous policy of “locking” cell phones to service providers.
But for Google fans and aficionados, the real question is, what will a Google cell phone look like? Will Google follow in Apple’s footsteps, incorporating a handy touch-screen? How about the phone’s wireless Internet capabilities? With Google behind the venture, you would certainly expect an Internet savvy cell phone, just as comfortable surfing the net as calling friends or family.
But then again, many people expected the same fast Internet capability from Apple’s new iPhone, and were severely let down. The iPhone does not take advantage of the fastest cell phone Internet speeds. But perhaps this is Google’s ace in the whole?
For now, we can only guess about the appearance and features of a prospective Google cell phone. But experts estimate that preproduction models may start to appear as early as December. Meanwhile, Google executives are keeping hush on the whole affair, causing many fans to e-mail and phone the company daily: “Dude, where’s my Google phone?”
