The Gruber brings us this bit of news: the new GPhone identifies as Nexus One in browsing logs. Five points to anyone who can remember what the Nexus models were?

In Blade Runner the Nexus Six models were the “rogue” replicants and someone – not saying who – was a Nexus Seven model.

So is Google saying they’re the Tyrell Corporation, working on the first off-world employees for their future colonies? Or is someone just playing a funny.

We don’t have much information on the Google Phone just yet. In fact, it sounds more like a party favor than anything else. However, if and when Google starts selling this thing, prepare for some of the strangest – and coolest – times in mobile we’ve ever experienced.

What do we know? It’s an HTC phone – probably the Passion, a distant cousin to the beautiful HD2 – with large touchscreen. It’s GSM unlocked and everyone at Google has one so whatever the super secret specs are, they won’t stay super secret for long.

But what if Google starts to sell this thing? This is “a big deal” on the level of Neo learning Kung Fu in The Matrix. This means Google is making hardware.

For nigh on three decades computer manufacturers have been secure in their positions of power. Dell and HP, for example, ruled the roost while upstarts from Asia like Sony positioned themselves in the consumer electronics market. This stasis has held back innovation for years.

But suddenly service providers are doing hardware. Amazon has the Kindle, Barnes&Noble has a lumpen Nook, and now Google has a phone. What’s next? The Credit Suisse Fondue Set?

When service providers make hardware, they have a different set of priorities. They have a lower number of SKUs so their products have to be great. They control a lot of the software so the UI is great. They control the distribution so there’s a bit of the “rarity” and “early adopter” factor to consider. This sort of stuff is what CE and PC manufacturers would kill for – after all, when’s the last time you drooled over a desktop?

PC makers are working in commodities. Service providers traffic in rarity. In this neophilic age it’s the first few months of a product’s existence that is most important. When Dell launches a phone, it’s news. When Google launches a phone it’s a Moon Shot.

We don’t know enough right now to say how interesting this be, but it’s definitely intriguing.

2007 was the year of speculation of a Google Phone, or Gphone. Handset manufacturer HTC was the center of attention around most of the rumors. But Google eventually squashed those rumors by announcing the Open Handset Alliance and Android. Instead of building an iPhone like device and service combined, they’d be backing an open source mobile operating system that could finally break the carriers’ stranglehold on the mobile market.

Android doesn’t preclude Google from creating their own mobile device as well though, that will work as a best of breed device. Google has never said they wouldn’t build their own phone exactly, but when they wrote last November that they were not announcing a Gphone at that time, most of the speculation died down.

But today Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt made nebulous statements that are leaving us wondering if Google is now thinking of building that gPhone: “The trio of Google execs also used the opportunity to talk about the inroads the company is making with its own branded mobile phone as a replacement for the iPhone.”

As Om Malik notes, this isn’t a direct quote but rather a summary of what was said by Hollywood Reporter writer Dan Cox. But a “branded mobile phone” is very different than Google’s Android project. Unless Cox got the summary wrong, the statements were significant.

Read more…

*gasp*

TheStreet has word from a source familiar with the situation that the GPhone won’t be released in time for the holiday shopping season after all. That’s really all the source had to say about the matter. Oh well.

There are other Android handsets set to launch this year, which I’m assuming won’t be affected by this news/rumor and I’m looking forward to the BlackBerry Bold, anyway. I’m curious to see what Apple will announce next week, too. I know, I know. The geek inside can’t help it.

RXC is positing that there will be two gPhones coming after Christmas, both made by Samsung (!!). He describes the phones as something like the Pearl with a flip up screen. I’m calling bullshit, as does 9to5mac, but it’s not too hard to make a “gPhone” — just rebadge something in the OEM’s pipeline — but I just can’t see Google selling physical product. They’re positing it will be a Verizon CDMA model with Wi-Fi and potentially VoIP along with a GSM version on T-Mo.

gPhone rumors heating back up… [9to5]

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Here, in all its madcap glory, is the GPhone: Android running on test hardware that looks compelling but not quite ready for prime time. The interface was quite snappy — it was almost exactly as swift as the emulated software on any PC — and it looks good and tight with lots of nice transitions et al. Let’s say this is the emulator made flesh and leave it at that — the jury is still out.

Samsung said yesterday that it won’t debut an Android powered phone until 2009, and AP reports that the first Android powered phones are due for a second quarter release, so despite earlier rumors of a February launch date, the world will have to wait for its GPhones.

Tune into CrunchGear for all the latest news from the Mobile World Congress.

a la mobile was the first company to offer a complete package of applications based on Google’s Android mobile phone operating system.

a la mobile is aiming to build a “bold, new paradigm to streamline the way mobile handsets are developed and deployed and to be the independent, open Linux system platform company for the mobile phone industry.”

(via PEHub)

A a la mobile demo unit includes a Google browser, phone dialer, audio player, Google maps, camera, games, calendar, contacts manager, calculator and notes installed on a HTC Qtek 9090.

According to a USA Today report, although a la mobile is not a member of the Open Handset Alliance, it intends to pitch the prototype to handset makers.

Andy Rubin, Google’s senior director of mobile platforms told the paper that the coalition is on track to roll out an official Android-based phone in the second half of this year.

APC Magazine thinks that we’ll see some Android headsets on February 11th, but let’s all keep that in our back pockets until then.

While early prototype devices might trickle out here and there, Google has said that the first available handsets won’t surface until the second half of 2008. Plus, the Android Developer Challenge will still be accepting submissions until March 3rd and then Google will hold a second developer challenge "after the first handsets built on the platform become available."

So I’d think that the very earliest we’d see actual, fully-working devices would be in March but that would be a big surprise in and of itself since Google hasn’t waffled on the "second half of 2008" thing yet.

Google-powered mobile phones to make a February debut? [APC Magazine]

It’s an interesting exercise in drawing the dots together to get to a completely unsupported conclusion, but there are some interesting facts APC has reported that are worth taking a look at:

You can bet that if Google’s handset partners lift the covers on their Android phones during the Mobile World Congress expo, which kicks off on February 11th in Barcelona – or if Google itself trots out a flock of phones to impress this annual powerhouse gathering of the global mobile industry (the company has booked two stands on the expo floor) – that these will be shiny snazzy models endowed with a very high ‘cool’ factor.

The emphasis is mine but it’s the key line: why does Google require two stands at a mobile conference?

There is some logic in the conclusion; it would be an ideal time for Google, manufacturers, or both to show off Google powered mobile phones, but still this is awfully quick, despite the shot recently of a GPhone in the wild. In 7 weeks we’ll find out one way or the other.

(image credit: Gizmodo)

What it means: The OS obviously works already, and this looks like a closed testing round to iron out the bugs, so there’s a good chance that Android is getting close to a broad scale release. The original reports said second half of 2008, it could be sooner.

The bad side: the handset. The original demo video showed a handset that was closer to an iPhone (although with keyboard) than a Blackberry, complete with touch screen interface, where as this…well if you like the aesthetics of a Blackberry it’s probably not that bad; Google is creating an OS that will be used on many phones, so we’re likely to see nicer handsets than this. Lets hope that in this case looks are deceiving, otherwise Scoble will be right, and we cant have that

(via CrunchGear)

By the end of 2008, you’ll be able to BYO device to Verizon’s high speed wireless network, according to a press release issued today.

Verizon "will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company." This could be seen as a reaction to upcoming Android phones but probably won’t be accessible to the average hobbyist, as devices will need to be "tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab" before being activated on the network.

Also, let’s not forget that Verizon’s "unlimited" EVDO no longer exists so those of you planning a killer mobile torrent downloader might have some trouble getting it to pass the sniff test. This initiative shows some forward thinking on Verizon’s part, though, so kudos for opening up the network to some outside innovation.

[UPDATE] Apparently it might very well be accessible to the average hobbyist, according to Gizmodo, who says that Verizon company officials have made it known that you can bring any CDMA-based phone to Verizon, provided it passes the "very reasonable" certification tests involving "basic network interactivity and a simple security screen." That’s good news after all.

Verizon Wireless To Introduce ‘Any Apps, Any Device’ Option For Customers In 2008 [Verizon Press Release]

He cites the prize money as the very reason that the developer API is "uninspired" comparing the fact that iPhone developers don’t even have an SDK and there’s still a ton of programs for it.

"Compare to the iPhone. Steve Jobs treats developers like crap. Doesn’t give them an SDK. Makes them hack the phones simply to load apps. And they create hundreds of apps anyway."

Good point, actually. But the phones that’ll take advantage of Android aren’t even out yet. There’s less incentive to program for a phantom device. It’s much more rewarding to be able to actually use what you’ve created.

Other reasons why Scoble’s not sold on Android yet include…

1. It was released without a personal approach.

2. This stuff is still vaporware.

3. The UI looks confused.

4. No real “love” for developers.

5. Google needs to get atomic videos.

6. Google’s PR comes across as “only caring about big bangs.”

7. It looks too much like a poor copy of the iPhone.

Most of the article is written as Android compares to the iPhone and it’s pretty clear that Scoble loves his iPhone. Still some good points, though. I think it’s too early to judge. Once the devices are actually available, there’ll be a lot more to analyze. Releasing the SDK early is a double-edged sword. You give people a chance to play around with it but they still don’t completely know how it’s going to function on the devices that are going to be optimized for it.

Google Android: we want developers but… [Scobleizer]

Thinking about looking into developing something for the upcoming Android platform? Google has announced a $10-million jumpstart to things in the form of "cash prizes ranging from $25,000 to $275,000 to developers whose applications are picked by a panel of judges."

Now’s your chance to get out of Encino and make a better life for yourself. You can do it! Everyone believes in you. Reach for the stars and whatnot. 

Google Announces $10 Million Android Developer Challenge [Google Press Release]

His latest outburst is against the Google-led Open Handset Alliance. He thinks it won’t work. That’s a fine opinion but it needs to be backed up with a convincing argument. The reasons he gives are far from convincing, however.

Dvorak takes his first potshot at Andy Rubin…

"In reality, I would guess that Rubin isn’t really going to get anywhere with this since he is, apparently, a strikeout artist. He’s the guy behind the unique-but-clunky Danger PDA–cum-phone. The Danger was cool and fun to use, but it was less a phone and more a gizmo. Let me point out something to all the geniuses out there: People buy phones because they are phones and not because they are half-baked Game Boys, GPS navigators, or Web browsers. That was the problem with the Danger and its successor, the Hiptop handset. They were clunky."

Couple things here. First, the device was never called "The Danger." Danger was and is the software company behind the device (The Hiptop), which was rebranded as the Sidekick by T-Mobile. Secondly, he’s talking about these devices as if they don’t exist any more. The Sidekick line of mobile devices has been around for a while,  two new models were just released, and the devices themselves are very popular. Hardly a strikeout.

"So what is Google trying to do with a phone? First of all, it wants to put Google search on a phone. It wants to do this because it is obvious to the folks at Google that people need to do Web searches from their phone, so they can, uh, get directions to the restaurant? Of course, they can simply use the phone itself to call the restaurant and ask!"

You don’t need me to tell you how ridiculous this sounds. You’d actually need the restaurant’s phone number in order to place the call and to get that phone number, you’d need to either do a "Web search" or call 411, which costs something absurd like $1.75 a call and that’s assuming that they connect you correctly the first time. Then you need to hope that someone at the restaurant answers and you can hear them well enough to get directions, assuming the person on the other end knows where you’re located at the moment. I, personally, find Google Maps on my mobile phone a lot easier to use than the rigmarole that Dvorak suggests.

"When all is said and done, Google is actually not a charismatic company that can make this new platform happen in a big way. Google hopes that people will code new applications for the phone. People have had eons to program for the Windows smartphones and nothing has come of it. What’s so different now?"

Really? The company that changed the way people search for information, develops award-winning free applications one after another, and is hell-bent on purchasing an entire wireless spectrum for this new platform isn’t going to be able to make this happen in a big way? And the comparison to Windows smartphones is silly. The new system is Linux-based, open, and free. People haven’t been programming stuff for Windows smartphones because they’ve likely been putting their time and effort towards initiatives that are similar to what groups like the Open Handset Alliance and Linux enthusiasts are trying to accomplish, not something out of Microsoft.

The Google Phone Is Doomed [PC Magazine]

Man. Google can’t get a break. First Nokia and Symbian are all like “POOOP!” and then Steven F is like “Weener!” and then the WSJ is like “WOMP STUPID WOMP” and Peter Ha is all like “I need to go to the bathroom” and I’m all like “Post!”

Anyway, Steve Ballmer says:

“Well of course their efforts are just some words on paper right now, it’s hard to do a very clear comparison [with Windows Mobile].”

“Right now they have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they’re welcome in our world.”

Which isn’t quite as sensational as saying:

GOOGLE I WILL EAT YOUR BABIES AND YOUR MOTHER! I WILL TEAR OFF YOUR HEAD AND USE YOUR GUT AS A PIGGY BANK! GOOGLE EATS ROADKILL AND PUKES IT UP AND EATS IT AGAIN! I WILL DESTROY YOU! ANDROID IS A PRESS RELEASE AND YOUR BRAIN IS AS BIG AS A RAT TURD!

So I’m not sure why the Slashdot folks made it sound like he said the bottom thing and not the top thing.

Google’s Android just a press release, says Ballmer [ComputerWorld via Slashdot]