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Google Working on a Mobile Phone?
An anonymous reader writes "Are the boys from Mountain View planning a move into mobile hardware? silicon.com has been encouraging analysts to dissect rumours that the search giant has designs on building a mobile. It says 'If Google were to get into the device game, it would be more likely to concentrate on the wi-fi side of things — perhaps a single-mode VoIP phone optimised for Google services such as Gmail.'"
how will it work? They'll be attached. They'll call it G-string voice transmission technology and patent it.
Well if they can give me a phone that lets me easily remember which girls name and number is which from my phone book I might be interested... all that search experiance has to be good for something!!
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It's about time someone develops a pure data phone for GSM, and not sell it through one of the carriers. But instead sell it independently, and have the users get their own SIM through a carrier and sign up for a data only plan. Then have VoIP, or whatever, I'm not a techie, but someone could figure it out.
Why phones remain tethered to carriers is beyond me. They give away the phones so they can ream you with the monthly charge. I got pay-as-you-go via t-mobile & I pay much less, and without a contract, than a monthly plan.
I don't know why everybody wants phones so bad. I hate phones, but I love mobile devices.
What I want is a mobile device about the size of a credit card and as thick as a CD jewel case. You unfold it two or four times (depending on how much screen real estate you need ATM), and rubber keys magically inflate to give it some tactile feedback goodness.
Inside this device a radio for every cellular network on the continent, and the ability to go looking for open wifi.
It can run a full embedded browser (for gmail) and ssh. The screen resolution is around 72 dpi. Oh, and it has a plug for a USB keyboard.
Finally, the battery lasts for a month in standby mode, or 12 hours of actual use.
And the device costs less than $500 with monthly plans for unlimited use in the in the $100 range.
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
Hooray for gPhone!!!
I wonder who has that trademark?
However, i can understand the need for a fully searchable sms archive and address book (oh goodness! how will i ever find out which girls sent me a message "u r a qt"!?), and i also understand google's impulse to get a phone into the market before microsoft, I'd prefer to let them do what they do best - Create really nifty and usable online apps that cease to work when you can't get online. I don't use vonage for my phone line because i can't fathom my voice communications being dependent on my online connectivity and not the other way around. I've seen dsl not work but still be able to take/make calls, but never vice versa. So, unless the gphone works on mobile carriers (good) and internet access through that way, I'm not sure it'll do very well.
For the record: Competing with iphone = good. Competing with vonage? Redundant and i'm not sure how google can improve an internet phone in any useful way unless they roll out a phone over internet service to compete on a full scale.
Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
If Google were to make a phone, I would say go with VOIP with some WiFi. Would be nice around the house.
[%] Cingular Ringtones
Will there be a reduced service price while it's still in the beta stage?
This guy's the limit!
Google is a web service company. Branching out into electrnics makes no sense. I could imagine them banching into mobile services, and maybe even partnering with an exisiting company to make a specialised handset, but making a mobile phone? It doesn't mnake sense.
Is there a phone that is just a phone? Designed to have a respectable life span for the phone itself and the battery? A phone that isn't also a camera, PDA, and now web surfing device. Just a phone.
I'm excited about cool mobile hand held devices, but sometimes people just need a reliable phone.
Oh, but are there any phone currently that synchronize with gmail and the Google calendar?
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
Okay so they are getting into mobile hardware, but why stop there lets add other things to "consider" that will generate more buzz
1) Google are getting into the MP3 player market, it will have a 1TB disk hence Google's search dominance will be critical
2) Google are going to buy Garmin and merge GPS with Google Earth over WiFi and 3G connections
3) Google are going to develop snowboards with integrated messaging and mapping to help you get the best tracks
There must be a load more wild speculations that we can add in, something around them buying Sony & Viacom & lots of other media companies to make sure they don't get sued.
Google truly are the new apple, they can generate news on what people think they might do, not just what they say they will do (Microsoft) or have done (IBM).
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
For more info about the Google "gPhone" you might want to visit the following URL, it's an analysis of the whole gPhone topic (this is just the latest in long list of articles on that site predicting things) http://eliax.com/index.php?/archives/2434-Google-a -lanzar-gPhone-para-redes-VoIP.html
F %2Feliax.com%2Findex.php%3F%2Farchives%2F2434-Goog le-a-lanzar-gPhone-para-redes-VoIP.html&langpair=e s%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Fla nguage_tools
It's in spanish, but here's a translation from Google Language: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2
Considering that this would be a physical object they could sell, AdWords would be unnecessary. Simply selling the phone would result in profit.
RonB
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
iPhone, Gphone, hPhone... whatever.
My phone is as mobile as it needs to be, it hangs on the wall, has a rotary pulse dial and a coiled cord to the handset that with stretch out to about 16 feet.
The last thing I want to hear outdoors is a phone.
"Reach out and annoy someone"
I wonder how they will call access points for this kind of wireless service... hmmm it should start with a G... how about G-spot? ;-)
The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
I don't see why this is news. Google has been working on my mobile phone for years!
Google Working on a Mobile Phone?
It's been working on mine for years. *badum-tish*
It sure as hell doesn't work on mine.
Oh, shit, wait...
In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
Google working on a phone? What's next? McDonalds working on the spaceshuttle? Sony designing bridges? Bombardier designing networking gear?
Hey google, stick to your "evil empire of data acquisition" plans and leave the hardware for the rest.
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
So far, Google hasn't made any physical products. They haven't sold anything to consumers (except for Google Earth Plus, which Keyhold was already selling when they bought them). They haven't designed or produced any custom hardware.
Google is almost certainly working on mobile phone stuff, because, by policy, people work on random stuff part of the time, and mobile phones aren't quite so uninteresting that nobody at Google would care about them at all. But they don't have the right skill set to be trying to make their own phone. I'd say what this is about is trying to make a standard Google Talk program for a range of phones. And I could see them doing something where you can link your Google Talk account to your cell phone so your contacts can start a voice call on your phone by selecting your Google account.
Just think of the cognitive dissonance generated when people are forced to pick which company has the better product: Apple, or Google? I suppose it would be whatever company has more of their unquestioning loyalty, but still, what a sight to see.
As the article says they'd be outsourcing the manufacture to HTC. And Google has already moved into wireless hardware deployment remember - there free muni wireless plans? What about the Google Search Appliance? I'm no expert, but these days you can probably design your own mobile phone (in fact I know someone who did, that little Kid's one called Firefly), without being a EE major.
Yahoo has also moved into the mobile field, although mainly by building a small suite to go on various platform/carrier combinations.
Of course, they would probably really piss off the major carrier with a wifi voip phone...
What about the Google Mini?
http://www.google.com/enterprise/mini/
Apple? Trolltech? And now, Google?
Seriously, is anyone else tired of all these random companies entering into the cell phone design/manufacturing industry? I'm fairly certain that all the available phones have more than enough features for everyday users. I'm one of few people I know that even cares about changing ring-tones, much less browsing web, etc.
What we need is not more phones, but rather better cell services. If we get services that allow customers to cheaply use features available on the existing phones, we won't need every other shop making their own. For example, I have yet to see a single Verizon-sold (and as such included on Verizon's whitelist) phone that allows picture transfer via bluetooth.
Good start but you don't go far enough. Google is working on the gCar. Just look at the facts...
:)
1) Ford / GM / etc is slashing US workers
2) Huge factories are left vacant, tens of thousands of workers ready to work for less money
3) Google tracks and records not only every page, but also every search and has stated it wants to record all knowledge
4) The Pizza driver doesn't ever remember the quick way to my house
5) Won't somebody think of the children?
Google will buy out Ford and other US automakers. They will start building cars with computers that access the entire Google Apps Suite including Google Earth, Google Maps connected to GPS. The cars will be sold at cost if you allow Google to track and index your every move and send it back to their data centers, as well as display location based in-car advertising directly to you. They will also have on-board cameras and send geo-tagged pictures as well.
Starting with the poor and college crowd people will sign up to get cheaper cars. They will get used to the convenience of gBillboard and forget about being tracked.
Bracelets for the kids will tether them to your vehicle or home showing your "last known location".
People will appreciate that they can instantly pull up a map to see exactly where their kids or spouse is on Google Earth at any point in time. Google will use the pictures to extrapolate the 3D structure of all buildings and develop algorithms to enhance the surface heights in Google Earth with the high resolution data recorded from the vehicles creating an almost perfect model of populated places. Each vehicle will have it's own "gCell" computer that seeks out other cars within 2 miles or so and forms an automatic mesh network. Highways make free internet access available and in return all these cars are used as a dynamic super computer with peak number crunching power during morning and afternoon rush hours.
They will all be hybrid plugins to fit with because Google's Don't Be Evil(tm).
Really, it's obvious when you look at the facts, and I bet all those Phd CS guys would get a hard-on creating it.
XBox, XBox360, Zune.
Welcome our new Google overlords.
I have been waiting for this for awhile, Google has at least two initiatives involving Cellphones. Gmail currently uses sms auth, to create accounts, giving google a nice database of phone numbers tied to gmail addresses. They also have the dodgeball service that they quietly purchased a year or so ago.
---In a time of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey.
Couldn't this just be some of the things that Google is working on with Apple for the iPhone?
They announced already that Google and Apple will be working on projects together.
Well as we can see google is trying to take over the world!...Stay tune Google OS coming soon!!!
Not A Troll!
i need only one thing from google that is mobile: a small tablet like device, big screen, keyboard. Not bigger than the standard blackberry. maybe thinner ( hate bulges ). It needs EDGE/3g, and wifi. no voice functionality. When i need to know something, i pull it out, key the search, get the answer(s). Done. make it 100% worldwide compatible and let me decide where do i get my connectivity.
Oh. and it needs a "Don't Panic" button too.
User interfaces gonna need a little work.
Google bought Reqwireless in 2005, which is based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where I live.
... Is it a mobile phone? Maybe not. But it sure has something to do with them.
This FAQ says that their original products are no longer available.
Meanwhile, they post jobs occasionally, such as this product manager position in Waterloo.
So, they must be doing something
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
I have been utterly bored this week by slashdot, but I can't help but observe something in this otherwise stale story...
"Are the boys from Mountain View"...
Jeez, believe it or not, but women work there too!
I know, I know, I'm sure that the writer was just making a generic statement, like "those folks from Mountain View" -- but I bet that wasn't the case - there is just far too much testosterone on this site for me these days that that is the only thing that struck me about this post...