Google Releases Experimental Phone To Employees

alphadogg, as is his wont, sends in a Network World piece on the resurgent rumors of a Google Phone. "Google has handed out a new mobile phone running its Android software to some employees, stirring another wave of speculation that the oft-rumored Google Phone is real. In a blog post on Saturday morning, Google said the phones are being distributed so that workers can experiment with new mobile features. It did not say the device will be a Google-branded phone. Since even before Google unveiled Android, onlookers have wondered whether the search giant will release its own phone. Instead, it released an open source operating system that other hardware vendors can use to make phones."

Comments

How does it compare to the Droid?

[Daetrin]

Is there anywhere enough details available to say if whatever this thing is will be better than the Droid? (At least the impression i've gotten without doing a great deal of research is that the Droid is the best Android phone out so far.)

Re:How does it compare to the Droid?

[beakerMeep]

I'd say it would be about equal to the Droid. Here's the rumors I've heard/read: - Processor speed will probably beat the droid, - HTC SenseUI will be nice, - Battery will probably be worse due to the stronger processor. - Screen should be nice an beautiful like the droid's, maybe ever more stunning. - Haven't heard anything about an LED flash like the droid's - No hardware keyboard - Sounds like T-Mobile's (weird flavor of?) GSM. - HTC Trackball v Moto'd directional pad - No discount, so looking at $300-800 ish? Full bias disclosure: I own a Droid and love it. Plan to marry it. Verizon has me by the balls in the prenup though.

Re:How does it compare to the Droid?

[kamikazearun]

No discount, so looking at $300-800 ish?

Some estimate,that.

Re:How does it compare to the Droid?

[the ReviveR]

Most americans seem to have quite a hard time comparing prices simply because most of the time your carriers subsidize so much of the actual price.

Here are some prices from one of the cheaper web stores in Finland. Please note that these have taxes included and probably the "europeans are idiots" bonus (1 dollar = 1 euro)

• iPhone 3GS 32GB - 528 euro (+ 12 month contract with "normal" prices)
• iPhone 3G 8GB - 396 euro (+12 month contract with "normal" prices)
• HTC Hero - 489.90 euro (no contract)
• Motorola Milestone - 549.90 euro (no contract + 50 euro for localized keyboard)
• Nokia N900 - 569.00 euro (no contract)
• Samsung Galaxy i7500 - 489.90 euro( no contract)
• Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Android - 749.90 euro (no contract)

Based on these it would seem that most top of the line phones actually cost around 500 - 600 euro (that is probably 500$-600$ in US) and even correlates pretty nicely with release schedule. Don't get the price on the Sony Ericsson, though it isn't actually out yet I think.

Re:How does it compare to the Droid?

[Registered Coward v2]

GSM is a pretty darn well-defined spec. The FCC compliance process takes months and is amongst the strictest in the business. You either conform completely or you don't get a licence. So WTF are these flavours you speak of?

ATT and T-Mobile use different frequency for 3G; so while the GSM phone bands are pretty standard the data bands are not. Hence no ATT 3G for teh Nokia N900 or T-Mobile 3G for unlocked ATT iPhones.

Dumb rumors

[Undead Waffle]

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities

I'm reading this as "some hardware manufacturer invented the big red button and we want our employees to be able to play around with what the software will do when the big red button is pressed." Or maybe they're just talking about faster processors, more memory, or some other somewhat minor upgrade. I see nothing to indicate they're going to enter the phone market themselves especially since it mentions the hardware is from "a partner".

Re:Dumb rumors

[adamchou]

what the software will do when the big red button is pressed

You will get one million dollars, but someone you don't know will die... that or a staples employee will appear out of no where and say "That was easy!"

Re:Dumb rumors

[jabithew]

I can't see Google releasing their own hardware; it seems like a Slashdot wet dream. If you look at their current strategy with Chrome (OS) and Android, it seems like their attitude is that if you look after the software, the hardware will look after itself.

It would also be quite outside their core competence. Google have never done any hardware releases for consumers, and there's no reason at all to expect them to be any good at it.

Re:Dumb rumors

[Tumbleweed]

You will get one million dollars, but someone you don't know will die... that or a staples employee will appear out of no where and say "That was easy!"

Can it be the Staples employee that dies? Cuz that's a deal I could live with. So to speak.

WSJ says it's real

[SuperKendall]

The Wall Street Journal says it's real.

I was doubtful myself, it seemed really weird that Google would compete against partners like this. It seems like most technical people that would even want Android to start with would flock to this phone and drop the others. Heck, I might even buy one to have something to tether my iPhone to when traveling internationally!!

I had a chance to try out a Droid, and it was still pretty pokey (especially when using the built in browser). Perhaps the Google phone will finally hit a good performance stride.

Re:WSJ says it's real

[Undead Waffle]

The Wall Street Journal says it's real.

I was doubtful myself, it seemed really weird that Google would compete against partners like this. It seems like most technical people that would even want Android to start with would flock to this phone and drop the others. Heck, I might even buy one to have something to tether my iPhone to when traveling internationally!!

I had a chance to try out a Droid, and it was still pretty pokey (especially when using the built in browser). Perhaps the Google phone will finally hit a good performance stride.

And from that link:

The phone is called the Nexus One and is being manufactured for Google by HTC Corp.

But unlike the more than half-dozen Android phones made by phone manufacturers today, Google designed virtually the entire software experience behind the phone

Subscription required beyond that.

So it's made by HTC. And "designed virtually the entire software experience" isn't saying much. Sounds like another "myTouch 3G with Google" sort of deal.

It's the season

[mknutty]

Google likes to give its employees little toys every year for Christmas. There aren't that many Google-related toys out there to give, so they could end up picking a phone even if it's nothing special.

Oooorrr... it could be teh awesomest Googlest phone evar.

google dialing

[C18H27NO3]

This is probably how a phone call would proceed on a Google phone:

555-1212

Results 1 - 30 of about 499,000 for 555-1212. (0.24 seconds)

www.555-1212.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_assistance

phones.whitepages.com/703-555-1212

. . .
et al.

Somewhere in there would be the option to dial the number you wanted. If you happen to have SafeDial turned on you can forget about ever connecting to your sex^H^H^Hchat line. In all serious I would think that perhaps they are trying to incorporate something Googly to reach a larger userbase but certainly their own phone with that ability would be much more lucrative.

Re:google dialing

[WGFCrafty]

Safe dial?

Is this like safe phone sex?

For porn from your phone the only answer is SexDial(tm)!

Anonymous Coward

[Anonymous Coward]

it appears to be the HTC passion. The twitter hype of this thing is extraordinary, it's like viral advertising only done right.

Nexus One

[tuxliner]

You can see a picture of this device here

Re:Any good?

[V!NCENT]

Google will not release their own phone. Here's why:

Google likes to dominate the software spectrum. If they release their own phone, then companies will look a bit suspicious at their "you can use our OS too!, fro free!"

In the end that will result in less Android phones and thus less people that use Google products and less people to click on their adds, which is their main source of imcome anyway.

The best Android phone I've seen so far is the HTC Hero. It whipes the floor with the iPhone in every aspect. Except for the fact that it doesn't help Microsoft with growing the Exchange user base...

Re:Any good?

[adolf]

A guy calling himself "V!NCENT" should perhaps have a good, hard look at himself before sarcastically insulting others in 1337-speak.

Re:Math fail.

[the ReviveR]

I am perfectly aware of current EURUSD conversion rate. What I am trying to say is, most electronics and software in EU is priced like the conversion rate would be 1 dollar = 1 euro. For example computer games on steam are priced about 50 dollars in US and about 50 euros in EU (I am talking about english version in both cases). I do not think anyone could explain the current difference based on actual expenses.

I know the rates wary from case to case, but while the actual value of dollar has gone down and euro has gone up, the actual prices in US haven't risen at the same rate and prices in EU certainly haven't gone down. Most big companies seem to charge what ever the market can take.