Google phone will take on Microsoft, not Apple

by Brad Linder Oct 8th 2007

Rumors about a Google phone have been flying for months. And since they started around the time that Apple was releasing its game-changing iPhone, it should come as no surprise that we all started to get the idea that Google might get into the hardware game and release a gPhone handset featuring Google software.

But according to the New York Times, while Google has developed a few prototype handsets for internal testing, what the company is really working on is a mobile operating system. Or to put it another way, what the company is really working on is a way to serve up advertisements on your mobile device.

Google will offer up its OS to hardware manufacturers, so perhaps one day you'll be able to get a Treo running PalmOS, Windows Mobile, or a Google operating system. The OS will be Linux-based and will include Google applications including mail, directions, possibly a web browser, and probably some sort of mobile version of Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Tags: cellphone, google-phone, gphone, mobile, OS, phone

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

tony2x said 11:06AM on 10-08-2007

Call me a cynic but I don't want advertising on my mobile phone. If Google comes up with a model where I don't pay for calls, data or text messages in exchange for some Ads then maybe that will be attractive to some.

Ad supported websites are fine, you can ignore the ads if you want but on my cellphone? Nah. Move along Google.

james 42 said 1:53PM on 10-08-2007

But Apple also makes a mobile OS, so how is it not competing against it?

Seanross said 2:29PM on 10-08-2007

{But Apple also makes a mobile OS, so how is it not competing against it?}

The same way the Treo's are not competing with the iPhone.... completely different markets and demos but inevitable comparisons. Google is looking to make a smart phone to compete with Windows Mobile is what im gathering

xyz xyz said 4:27PM on 10-08-2007

Why do anyone want to see advertisement on their mobile phone?

Jason Barnes said 4:32PM on 10-08-2007

So, will this new mobile OS be out of beta before Gmail is? I can already see Google competing with Microsoft on another level: The Blue Screen of Death vs. The Goo Screen of Death. :P

Jason Barnes
http://www.superbhosting.net

Nate Wynd said 7:08PM on 10-08-2007

"So, will this new mobile OS be out of beta before Gmail is? I can already see Google competing with Microsoft on another level: The Blue Screen of Death vs. The Goo Screen of Death. :P"

You have you remember that Google is being pretty loose with the term 'beta'. Gmail is fully functional as is just about everything in their free suite of web-based applications.

james 42 said 7:08PM on 10-08-2007

And how are Treos not competing with the iPhone? If a person is looking at getting a smart phone (like my wife) what's to stop them from looking at both and comparing? Nothing. And the people I are shopping around.

Saying they don't compete is like saying it would be reasonable to one person to have both, right? If they don't do the same things, there's no overlap. That's just silly.

It is really funny these days to watch how everyone is running around saying how they are not competing with this company or that product, when in fact they are.

Seanross said 8:27AM on 10-10-2007

They don't compete in the sense that they do NOT target the same market... I know people who have a Treo and an iPhone. I was considering one myself, but the loss in function over the Treo is not worth it. The iPhone (without "illegal" mods) cannot compete with all the functions of a Treo. The Treo can do everything the iPhone (sans multitouch screen,wifi, and the gyro sensors) and more. Go do your research. If your in the "corporate" business world and your looking for a phone for business use, there is NO comparison in the iPhone vs. Treo, Blackberry, or WM devices.

James Abrahams said 12:57PM on 12-10-2007

Lots of people are going on about Adverts. Google's operating system is part of a coalition of companies making the OS called Android. Which is based on linux and totally open source. So its not going to be a bit way just to get adverts! You'd be able to write your own distro without adverts if that were the case.

What we'll all be able to do with Android is amazing!

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters