Technology, Culture, Commentary on the Internet Revolution

Multiple Google Phones Planned

by Mike Abundo on August 3rd, 2007

What could be better than a Google phone? Answer: several Google phones. The Wall Street Journal reveals that Google has built more than one prototype model for the Google phone, to be mass-produced by multiple hardware manufacturers.

[Google] has developed prototype handsets, made overtures to operators such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, and talked over technical specifications with phone manufacturers. It hopes multiple manufacturers will make devices based on its specs and multiple carriers will offer them.

True to Google form, the prototypes emphasize function over form. That makes sense: you use a businesslike free-service Gphone to close deals on the road, and you use a sexy data-plan iPhone to get laid at bars.

The specifications Google has laid out for devices suggest that manufacturers include cameras for photo and video, and built-in Wi-Fi technology to access the Web at hot spots such as airports, coffee shops and hotels. It also is recommending that the phones be designed to work on carriers’ fastest networks, known as 3G, to ensure that Web pages can be downloaded quickly. Google suggests the phones could include Global Positioning System technology that identifies where people are.

People who have seen Google’s prototype devices say they aren’t as revolutionary as the iPhone. One was likened to a slim Nokia Corp. phone with a keyboard that slides out. Another phone format presented by Google looked more like a Treo or a BlackBerry. It’s not clear which manufacturers might build Google wireless devices, though people familiar with the project say LG Electronics Co. of South Korea is one company that has held talks with Google. Google has already lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it’s open to various degrees of cooperation on their part, the people say.

Google doesn’t plan to charge a licensing fee to hardware makers or operators, people familiar with the matter say. The company has suggested the phones could carry the Google brand alongside the brand of the operator, or they could be distributed without the Google name.

Since cellular hardware providers really don’t care what happens to cellular service providers as long as they can sell handsets, they’ll happily churn out in-demand Gphones for multiple markets, even if they put cellcos out of business. Screw the iPhone, I want the Gphones.

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POSTED IN: Google, Mobile