Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Google Phone

By now you've probably heard rumors about a Google phone. According to Bloomberg:

Google Inc. is in talks with Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. about developing mobile-phone software and services, two people familiar with the discussions said.

Google, owner of the world's most-popular Internet search engine, may build a phone operating system or applications, said the people, who wanted anonymity because the talks are private.

Mike McGuire, an analyst at Stamford, Connecticut-based research firm Gartner Inc. is also quoted in the Bloomberg piece:

An operating system would give Google another way to profit from sales of mobile phones, which outsold personal computers by more than 4-to-1 last year......

According to numerous sources on the web, the Google phone will compete directly with the iPhone and be built on an open-source platform, Building it this way could make it a lot cheaper than the iPhone which currently sells for $399. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the phone will include many Google applications including search, Gmail, Maps and YouTube.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Google is expected to announce advanced software and services within the next two weeks. These services would allow handset makers to bring Google-powered phones to market by the middle of next year.

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