Google Tries To Land Mobile Phone Deals With Sprint, Verizon . . . Anyone

googleogo1.gifIf things go well, we might finally see that Gphone by the middle of next year. Google is in heated talks with wireless carriers in the U.S., including Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, (and Vodafone internationally) to carry the Gphone, reports the WSJ. Google already competes (and cooperates) with some of these carriers. It recently fought with Verizon, for instance, over the rules of the upcoming 700 Mhz wireless spectrum auctions, while it is partnering with Sprint on its upcoming Wimax network. The only carrier not mentioned is AT&T, which carries the iPhone.

When the Gphone does come out, chances are that there won’t be just one Gphone, but many. In the next two weeks, Google is also expected, says the WSJ, “to announce new software and services that handset makers could use to build customized Google-powered phones.” Just as in social networking, Google wants to make mobile phones an open platform that developers can build lots of applications on top of. We may very well see a mobile 2.0 platform war brewing between the Gphone, the iPhone, Windows Mobile, and Nokia’s Ovi.