Is Google’s Mobile Phone in the offing? (USA)WHEN SEARCH GIANT Google roars, the e-world reverberates. But this time the virtual world is responding feverishly to the buzz that Google is launching its own mobile phone, the Gphone. So far, Google has been denying any such future plans. But the reports pouring in the public domain carry all indications that Google has plans of getting into the mobile phone market. It was reported that regarding its new venture Google is currently in talks with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar. But it is yet not confirmed whether it is a rumour or a truth.
Again, if one goes by the report of Rediff’s India Abroad, Google has plans to invest $7-8 billion in its telephony plot. The Google executives are silent on this issue and all they have to say is that the company is committed to providing its users access to the world’s information, and mobile phones play an important role in all this.
As per the reports from both the BBC and The Wall Street Journal, Google has out rightly refused to deny the handset rumours; rather, it simply reiterated that its users and partners want Google search and Google applications on mobile, and it was working hard every day to deliver that. Moving forward in this direction, Google has entered a global collaboration with LG Electronics (LG), a leading worldwide provider of advanced wireless handsets and accessories. Under this collaboration, LG will pre-install Google’s services on millions of LG mobile phones. The features of LG-Google handsets include: Google Maps, Gmail, and Blogger Mobile.
Support for this rumour has come from yet another report stating that HTC is being tapped to build a Linux-based Gphone to be launched on T-Mobile in the US in early 2008, with Orange getting the exclusive in France and other countries. In an attempt to quell such rumours Richard Kimber, Managing Director—Sales and Operations (South-East Asia), Google said that Google is obviously investing in the software side of things, but that it has no interest in entertaining the crowded handset market.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has even waxed rhapsodic about the possibilities of free handsets subsidised by Google advertisements. Rumours are just rumours, as always. Till then we have to wait and see, but it’s hard to ignore the amount of buzz regarding Gphone/ Googlephone. Even if the rumour wheel rotates in right direction and it becomes a truth, introducing the Googlephone would be a huge step for the company as Google’s ultimate goal shouldn’t be to have its own phone, but rather to be on every phone.
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