Although it appears that there won’t be any one singular Google Phone, there have apparently been some murmurings around the interconnected network that Chinese device manufacturer “E28″ has developed a phone that “has been pegged as being the likely core of the Gphone, with Google’s suite of applications closely integrated.” The thing runs Linux. Okay great. It also can connect to Wi-Fi networks and cellular networks. So can a lot of other phones. It seems weird to call any device THE Google Phone, though. I don’t think Google’s as interested in hardware partnerships as it is in getting its software on as many devices as possible so take this one with a grain of something. Google Phone revealed as E28 Linux handset! Well, maybe… [Tech Digest] → Read More
The Google Phone has replaced the iPhone. What I mean by that is all the rumors, innuendo and general nonsense that surrounded the iPhone will now be transplanted to the Google Phone. Today’s rumor comes to us by way of the Wall Street Journal. Sometime in the next two weeks, so the rumor goes, Google will announce a suite of software and “services,” whatever those are, corroborating earlier rumors that the Google Phone won’t be a phone at all. This means that, if everything works out, cellphone makers and carriers will be able to roll out (or at least announce) phones compatible with the new Google Phone software by mid-2008. Of particular interest to the Slashdot crowd, Google wants to make the phone completely open, letting any John Q. Public program whatever he wants. What, Apple worry? Google plan sees phones by mid-2008: report [Reuters/WSJ] → Read More
The fact that Google is trying to take a bite of the Apple pie–that is, prepping a launch of its own mobile phone–is perhaps Silcon Valley’s worst-kept secret. As the rumors currently stand, the “Gphone” will come to America sometime next Spring, likely riding on back T-Mobile’s network, and, according to some reports, costing the Gguys several hundred million dollars in development costs. So what will that money get them/us? If they want to compete in the ever-crowded mobile marketplace, which is increasingly filled with newcomers who made their name in other sectors of the tech biz, it’ll have to be plenty. Sure, seamless integration with Google Documents, Calendar, YouTube, etc… etc… etc… is a given. But here’s what we’d really like to see if they have any hope of getting us to ditch our iPhone/RAZR/Prada/wood block. → Read More
Google apparently has an issue with charging consumers money. Let’s face it, the world’s largest search giant isn’t a search engine, it’s an ad machine. A perfectly targeted one, at that: you tell it what you’re looking for, it offers up commercial options for your perusal. It’s a great idea. → Read More
Stop living your life for just a second because we have a possible release date for the rumored Google Phone: late 2007. Supposedly the phone will be manufactured by HTC (they make the Dash, among others), which will have more than one million Google Phones (GPhones?) by the end of the year. This news comes to us by way of DigiTimes, the Taiwanese tech-oriented newspaper that often gets stuff wrong. It’s said that the phone won’t support GPS, but will support EDGE (lame) and will integrate with Gmail and Google’s lovely search. This drawing is from a patent filing, not something I drew on a napkin at the local Wendy’s. Breaking: Google Phone will launch in 2007 [Mad4MobilePhones] → Read More
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