Google has been working on a mobile phone project for more than two years and the GPhone has caused expectations in the technology world to rise.
GPhone Is Not a Phone?
Google hopes to capture a larger portion of the mobile Internet and online advertising by convincing wireless carriers and mobile phone makers to offer phones based on its software.
Some experts believe that the Google phone project will not be as innovative initially as the iPhone. “The iPhone was a milestone in terms of how people use a mobile device,” Karsten Weide of the research firm IDC told the International Herald Tribune. “The GPhone, if it does come out, will help Google with distribution for their online services.”
Most analyst believe that Google is not developing a phone to compete with the iPhone, but is creating software that will provide an option to Windows Mobile from Microsoft and other operating systems. Google is not expected to charge phone makers a licensing fee for the software unlike Microsoft.
“The essential point is that Google’s strategy is to lead the creation of an open-source competitor to Windows Mobile,” said an industry executive, who did not want his name used because his company has had contacts with Google. “They will put it in the open-source world and take the economics out of the Windows Mobile business.”
Major carriers such as Verizon wireless and AT&T are unlikely to be interested in the Google phone project as they have spent billions building their networks and cresting their own Internet portals. They view Google and other search engines as competitors.
Mahesh Veerina, the founder and chief executive of Celunite, a cellphone software company thinks Google’s offering could be appealing to small carriers, who may view it as another way to compete.
If Google phones are popular with users other carriers could be receptive to the technology said Richard Doherty, director of Envisioneering Group, a consulting firm. He said no one wants to be the last carrier to endorse Google.
