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December 26, 2007

GPhone To Debut In February?

Duncan Riley

44 comments »

androidphone.jpgGoogle powered phones could be debuted as soon as February, according to speculation by APC.

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)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 at 11:26 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  1. Go to Android

    December 27th, 2007 at 1:11 am

  2. El primer Google Phone para principios de 2008 | Espira Tecnologías Web

    December 27th, 2007 at 7:34 am

  3. jdrohn.com

    December 27th, 2007 at 8:44 am

  4. Doe Niet Zo Moeilijk!

    December 31st, 2007 at 9:48 am

Comments

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  1. other

    December 26th, 2007 at 11:35 pm

    the physical device in that picture is heinous. I guess the UI looks ok.

  2. Niyaz PK

    December 26th, 2007 at 11:45 pm

    Wow…. The gaint is growing….. GPhone is coming.
    Next there will be G-TV. Hmmm waiting for the revolution.

  3. xenbet

    December 26th, 2007 at 11:52 pm

    That looks ugglyy. they need some design tips from apple , samsung or phillips

  4. Harish

    December 27th, 2007 at 12:02 am

    Google doesn’t care about the design of the physical devices.. they care about the ubiquity of google services on a majority of cell phones in the worldwide market. All they need to do is wait for competition to heat up in the cell phone manufacturer market as makers like Samsung, Phillips, etc. try to differentiate their products based on physical features, and not on functionality (as all Android-compatible phones will have a similar feature set).

  5. James Thomas

    December 27th, 2007 at 12:17 am

    It’s called Android, you know… gphone was a rumor, the android OS is real.

  6. Duncan Riley

    December 27th, 2007 at 12:22 am

    James Thomas
    I’m more than aware of that, but GPhone is a far easier and pleasurable description than “Google mobile phone effort Android and Open Handset Mobile Alliance,” at least with GPhone it’s shorter and ppl will know what you’re talking about :-)

  7. privacy please

    December 27th, 2007 at 12:30 am

    Google, thanks, but NO THANKS!

    Can consumers trust Google?

  8. AW

    December 27th, 2007 at 12:48 am

    @7: I can.

    I like to think of it as a working relationship: I view ads, they give me free swag.

  9. Jesus H Christ

    December 27th, 2007 at 1:04 am

    ohh no, BIG Google is so EVIL. i would rather trust my info to Verizon so they can give it to the Feds without a warrant.

  10. no gphone

    December 27th, 2007 at 1:13 am

    there is no gphone…. its called android, its software.

    get over it, they didnt make a phone, they made an os. its pretty fu*king annoying having to still hear it called gphone evn after the dam ceo said there is no gphone.

  11. NickeyD

    December 27th, 2007 at 1:36 am

    The UI also need some help from Apple. It’s so fugly.

  12. micfo.com

    December 27th, 2007 at 2:42 am

    Still Google will have to face a tough competition in mobile market.

  13. pp

    December 27th, 2007 at 3:07 am

    @8: You view adds and they will buy 767s, at your expense, and won’t even send thank you or Xmas card :-)

  14. JasonMcIntyre

    December 27th, 2007 at 3:15 am

    Sergey came out and said they were not interested in developing phones … just operating system to power them. I wrote about this a while ago on my blog. Included are 2 YouTube videos with Sergey Brin showing off some of Androids capabilities.

    They do need to focus on the aesthetics of the phone aswell as the OS … otherwise nobody will buy it!

  15. TechnoQ

    December 27th, 2007 at 4:14 am

    I have one question,will the Gphone be available in India???

  16. Craig Baker

    December 27th, 2007 at 4:21 am

    @NickeyD: If you think the UI is a little ugly, why not download the SDK change it too your taste. That is where the real story is here, not in commodity handset hardware.

  17. Dan Schawbel

    December 27th, 2007 at 4:23 am

    G phone vs i Phone……what do we buy?

  18. Small Business Marketing

    December 27th, 2007 at 4:44 am

    They forget that in the third world countries they are as sophisticated as we are when it come to wireless. So they won’t even sell there unless they clean up the aesthetics.

  19. ITrush

    December 27th, 2007 at 5:19 am

    The features are ok, but the looks sometimes plays a big role in the eyes of the consumer.

    Nhick
    http://www.itrush.com

  20. Todd

    December 27th, 2007 at 5:46 am

    Why do they need to stands - One for handset makers to show off Android powered phones, the other is for Google to show how they will use their newly won frequency spectrum will be used.

    More totally unsubstantiated speculation? OK, there will be a slick HTC handset running Android, doing all the standard 3G mobile phone stuff, but it will also have a 700MHz radio with support for Skype, Gmail, YouTube and Open Social powered web sites.

    Baseless speculation, I has it.

  21. Ankit

    December 27th, 2007 at 6:10 am

    Thats one ugly phone !

    Hopefully Google would have a better design team on that.

  22. Tostada-man

    December 27th, 2007 at 6:31 am

    Google is all about the software. Software, software, software!!!

    Oh, wait! They sell those Google boxes….

    So Google can also wants to play in the hardware/device/smartphone arena? If Google wants to get into the “physical” world, let’s throw a crazy idea out there: Let’s say Google buys…..Palm?

    Crazy, you say?…. Palm is not doing that good, meaning a good buying price. The everlasting rumors of a Motorola or Nokia takeoves don’t seem to gather traction. And Palm is here in Silicon Valley. Plus Palm OS needs an overhaul. They also would give Microsoft a headache, because I’m sure they would stop selling the Windows version of the Treo (Google likes to “stick it to Redmond”).

    Anyhow…. Stay tune for the next round of products from Google: GToilet, GCondoms, GPizza and GHairspray

  23. Laurent

    December 27th, 2007 at 6:51 am

    I agree with others about the fact that Google is more about software.
    It’s not the first time we see a rumor about Gphone, but all Google has done is releasing apps for mobile.

  24. Dom

    December 27th, 2007 at 7:12 am

    There’s no reason for Google to develop handsets of their own. The current manufacturers are more than capable of doing that for them. The real power (and money-makers, I suppose) are in the software that drive the phones.

    We can all guess that at some point Google will be giving away phones with Android-related software built in for free. The catch is that, as with most Google services, they’ll deliver ads to the phone as well. It’s different, but as we’ve seen with the more traditional web-based apps, it works. People get free services, and Google make a fortune. Fair play to them.

  25. Argh

    December 27th, 2007 at 7:14 am

    At least Duncan Riley can always rely on comments being dumber and less informed than he is. It’s like watching Stevie Wonder give Hellen Keller driving lessons.

  26. mint question

    December 27th, 2007 at 7:18 am

    “dam ceo said there is no gphone.”

    CEOs say crap all the time to protect IP and upcoming product launches. Not saying that applies here but that’s a severely flawed supporting fact.

  27. mint question

    December 27th, 2007 at 7:20 am

    “At least Duncan Riley can always rely on comments being dumber and less informed than he is. It’s like watching Stevie Wonder give Hellen Keller driving lessons.”

    Mrs. Riley, please don’t post on the site with offensive comments in an effort to defend your son’s oft half-assed writing.

  28. Everett

    December 27th, 2007 at 8:04 am

    Looks like the best of 3 worlds, iPhone+Nokia6280+Blackberry!

  29. Aaron B. Hockley

    December 27th, 2007 at 8:21 am

    Wow. That’s one fugly phone. It’s as if they took every phone/UI element that has ever been included on any phone, and attempted to put them together. That makes my 8700-series blackberry look like a fine work of art. Crazy.

  30. Adonis

    December 27th, 2007 at 8:30 am

    someday we can visit the websie in China

    http://www.china-birdsnest.com

  31. Will Merydith

    December 27th, 2007 at 8:35 am

    Wow - super ugly device.

  32. Simon

    December 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am

    am I the only person here who thinks this is picture is a bad photoshop fake?

  33. Simon

    December 27th, 2007 at 9:52 am

    let me clarify - for starters the persons thumb is clearly in direct sunlight and clearly over exposed - the screen would obviously be blown out from the sun too. The UI is basically an image that’s been dropped on to some fugly looking abomination of a smart phone. It’s not even a good fake image.

    I saw this image a few weeks ago on another blog and couldn’t believe TC is taking it seriously and actually using it. Lame.

  34. remoran

    December 27th, 2007 at 11:48 am

    Dog ugly. No one would design something like this for real.

  35. Kirill

    December 27th, 2007 at 2:36 pm

    Rumors… Who starts them? Usually the same person who then disapproves them. Remember who started the story :) It was Isabel Aguilera, Managing director of Google Spain and Portugal.

  36. WinAndFun.com

    December 27th, 2007 at 3:35 pm

    We will learn in 9 weeks…

  37. Ballmer

    December 27th, 2007 at 3:44 pm

    I hope they look better than that piece of carp!

    fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

  38. micfo.com

    December 28th, 2007 at 7:20 am

    I hope it would be definitely have some nice feature.

  39. Mary Anne

    December 28th, 2007 at 5:04 pm

    At Mobile World, there are 3 buildings with 2 floors a piece (not counting multi-story outdoor structures). Two stands is barely a showing - most mid-tier adult content peddlers have more. This is a just-for-show appearance. Or maybe a “please develop for Andriod - we’ll pay you!” effort.

  40. Dog Turd Recycling

    December 29th, 2007 at 8:28 am

    That phone looks like a turd.

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