Supposedly an insider from HTC has confirmed a long-time rumor to be true. Google is currently in talks with HTC and possibly Samsung (although this is not confirmed) for their release of a new Google branded cell phone. Google is currently choosing between 20 different cell phone designs by HTC. Not too much has been released about the phone itself, but we can expect much of Google's software to be modified to work seamlessly on a mobile device. Google maps, as well as a GPS system is expected to be on the phone, along with Gmail, Google Talk and calender integration. Even more interesting, there are rumors that the Google phone will also feature VoIP technology as well. There have also been speculation about the phone's OS being a version of Windows Mobile, but new rumors suggest the OS may be Linux based. Hopefully, if all goes as planned, we should be seeing this phone hit the market in early 2008.
In my opinion, knowing Google's business plan/strategy, it may be safe to guess that the phone will be cheaper than the iPhone. Assuming Google sticks to their advertising based business model, they may even take a loss with the release of the hardware. By obtaining a large customer base quickly, they can then expect to make back their investment largely through advertising revenue.
No comments:
Post a Comment