Comments on: More gPhone Rumors: London Times, Harold & Kumar

By: YoPauly

YoPauly — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:42:47 +0000

Amazing how much time we put into “buzz” that is nothing more than that. Remember the new Palm Treo with the big screen and slide-out keyboard that never happened? Remember the iPhone with a physical keyboard that never happened? Remember all the “iphone” killers that faded into the sunset?

Finger on the pulse? I think not.

By: Tallbruva

Tallbruva — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:08:47 +0000

@gwlaw99
I’ve been to your site from your link here. You of all people should know how Google makes money from advertising using AdWords and AdSense. The more mobile devices you have in people’s hands, the more likely they are to search or at the very least go to a page that has an AdSense link. And since the default search widget will take you to Google, any and all ad revenue starts – and in most cases right now – ends with them.

Either way, Google makes money. Unless you can think of another reason why they’d give away a free OS (with the expense of keeping it updated – Microsoft sure isn’t giving theirs away for free), free space to hold your pics(Picassa), free office document apps, free electronic books in the public domain, etc, etc.

What do all these have in common? You go to their site for everything. You may not make them money on the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd trip. But if everything you’re doing goes thru them, yeah, they can make money off you without placing adds on your desktop.

BTW – they can place ads in the application if the developer chooses to use Google for ads. Install The Weather Channel app and you’ll see that.

By: a

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:20:05 +0000

1Ghz Snapdragon sounds great but don´t get too exited. OMAP3430 is known to support HD video playback – Samsung Omnia HD – while no Snapdragon powered phones support that soo far.

By: Y314K

Y314K — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:22:55 +0000

I would think this phone is a US exclusive, at least for the first few years… Finally something we can brag about mate… Took HTC Hero months to get here…. And then it had been circumcised… Seems the Euro’s don’t like it when the phone is on the other ear…
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And for those that don’t understand VoIP… It’s a proven tech that doesn’t need as much data as you think… I went from having Vonage to MagicJack… MJ is great… I extended my service for 5 years after my first year with it for only 60 bucks… They have great international fees, even better then GoogleVoice & it’s portable…
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The US & Euro cell markets are way different… And Google is going after the bigger clusterphuck first… Euro’s can just wait… Just as we’ve had to wait on tons of devices and tech.
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Now… Has anybody heard anything new about this Google project…
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10158326-94.html
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Can this be Google’s Ace up it’s sleeve… I mean… Is this what is pushing Google back from releasing the gPhone in ’09… And why wouldn’t the carriers allow for data only plans when they know if they don’t jump on board they will be left behind faster then Kirk Cameron.
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Keep an eye out for WhiteSpace Technology… I think this might be the canary in the gPhone goldmine. (No wonder Google said no to any more WiMax funding)
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So do the math folks…
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Google GPhone made by HTC(Killer Specs) + GoogleVoice/GoogleGizmo5 + GoogleADMob + GoogleWhiteSpaceTech… And they just keep adding more stuff…
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“Game Changer” more like NKED!!!

By: MensahWatts

MensahWatts — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:21:07 +0000

You know what I think? I think ROB knows more about this phone-then he is saying…

By: Tom Robson

Tom Robson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:53:12 +0000

I don’t buy the whole VoIP thing either. It might be available as an option, but the networks even in more densely populated countries like the UK and Germany could not support VoIP with the same quality and availability as the regular voice network. Google Voice is currently US only… can they roll that out fast enough make it reliable enough to make this a viable proposition.

As other posters have noted, releasing their own handset with a more advanced version of Android than anyone else has, will just annoy handset makers to the point of them dropping Android support. Sounds like daydreaming or exaggeration to me.

By: Y314K

Y314K — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:45:17 +0000

For all of you that don’t understand how google can make a killing giving away top of the line devices + in the future free cell data too…

http://nofilmschool.com/2009/11/the-google-phone-will-be-free/

By: TSellers

TSellers — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:06:16 +0000

@twrock: I think the “Don’t be evil” motto is targeted toward their consumers, not their business partners. Releasing this rumored google phone would be the most amazing and non-evil thing they could do for consumers. It would force carriers to compete with a fully featured smartphone whose plan has unlimited text/voice/data for no more than $45/month (or less, depending on carrier). Manufacturers would still be Google’s “buddy” because Google is allowing them to leverage, for free, an extremely popular OS and app market and still put a signature spin on it (HTC Sense, Moto BLUR, Sony XU, Acer Liquid, etc). The only ones in the cold are the carriers, who were never Google’s buddy to begin with and actually hamstrung the open source Android project not too long ago. As consumers in the US, we need something to shake up our telcos so they start lowering their prices and improving their networks rather than just suck us dry with some of the highest rates and unreliable/slow networks on the planet.

By: johnkzin

johnkzin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:59:41 +0000

When the carriers move to LTE and/or WiMAX, they’ll be all voice-over-data anyway. This isn’t a new battle-front, it’s the first step into the future. It makes more sense for the carriers to work WITH Google, to ensure mutual benefit, than to pout about something they’ll have to do eventually, anyway.

Though, personally, I hope the GooglePhone has one feature sadly missing from most of the existing Android phones: tethering without rooting. Bluetooth DUN, Bluetooth PAN, USB tethering, and Wifi tethering; all of the above.

By: twrock

twrock — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:18:01 +0000

(Disclaimer: maybe I am completely misunderstanding what is starting to happen here, but….)
Admittedly, smarter minds than mine over at Google must think this is a good idea and even the right time to do it. I just don’t see it. Seems Google is going to end up going to war with two groups they still need as partners: manufacturers and carriers.
No wonder that even with a “free” OS available, manufacturers continue to pursue their own OSs. Google might think they are “doing no evil”, but this kind of stuff looks quite differently when you are on the other side and Google is you competition instead of your “buddy”.

By: taf

taf — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:53:34 +0000

WRT the 3D gaming this sounds like it could be based on a new graphics technology for android called renderscript. I’ve done some digging about in the Android source code and found a few things. I’ve written about what I’ve found on my blog here:

http://www.inter-fuser.com/2009/11/android-and-renderscript.html

and also:

http://www.inter-fuser.com/2009/11/android-renderscript-more-info-and.html

By: Matthew Forrester

Matthew Forrester — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:37:48 +0000

It’s not the London times, it’s a national paper (do you have those) and it’s actually just “The Times”

By: fish

fish — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:20:51 +0000

Everyone outside US won’t give a shit bout this phone. Sad.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:11:45 +0000

@MOJO …

The rumor is that Google will be selling its phones through retail stores not the carriers. Knowing Google, they will probably sell them at a really low price.. cause they really want folks to use their services and the internet.. they re not planning on making money on the hardware

By: dp

dp — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:46:52 +0000

To everyone saying “no google voice outside US”, I can see that changing after the acquisition of Gizmo5. I believe the one thing holding Google voice back outside the US (just guessing here) may be the need to purchase “rights” to international phone numbers. Gizmo5 offered their users the choice of purchasing call-in numbers including international numbers all around the world (though it was pretty expensive for many of these numbers). If these phone number reservations were part of what Google bought with Gizmo5, then I don’t see what would be stopping them from rolling out Google Voice internationally.