Google ready to unleash the GPhone

[Barefootsies]

Google wants to grab a chunk of the rapidly-growing mobile advertising market with its upcoming Google Phone or 'GPhone', according to industry reports.

The search giant has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a mobile phone that is customised to showcase Google products, such as its search engine, webmail and Google Maps, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday.

The WSJ cites "people familiar with the plans" as saying that Google, which is conducting much of the development work in Boston, has developed prototype phones and approached handset makers and mobile operators including Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Industry analysts suggest that Google may replicate its huge success with internet advertising by acting as a broker for mobile adverts.

Reuters subsidiary Anian reported last month that Orange would be Google's most likely worldwide partner, with T-Mobile selling the phones in the US.

Google has declined to comment directly on the reports, although a spokesman said that the company plans to partner with various mobile operators and handset makers around the world.

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/21...unleash-gphone

[1337DK]

Some day Google will take control of the World, just like Pinkie and Brain :D

[pornguy]

To bad they let Mac beat them to it.

[Sosa]

google won't stop anything!

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by 1337DK

Some day Google will take control of the World, just like Pinkie and Brain :D

Well it now makes more sense why they are in that fight with the teco's over the 700 hz band that's becoming available.


Don't Give Google 700 MHz
07.31.07

The search giant will have to overcome hurdles, answer questions, and develop an open device in order to succeed, but should it?

Google could be your next cellular service provider. Get used to the idea. Why? Well, because the search giant is bundling up billions of dollars to secure the 700-MHz spectrum and plant a stake in the ultra-competitive world of wireless service networks. You might as well ignore the debates and hand-wringing occurring in the FCC and among current service providers, because Google will win this fight. But will consumers win in the long run? I think it's unlikely.

There are hurdles that Google must clear, and chief among them is that many folks still own analog television sets that aren't connected to cable or satellite and still rely on the old 700-MHz spectrum. Networks must, by government decree, be all digital by 2009, but no one can tell Murray in Milwaukee to give up his 32-inch CRT and antenna before he's ready. I expect that this deadline could be extended one more time to 2011.

Still, this only delays the inevitable.

Since the FCC plans on selling off the spectrum in regional blocks, that should prevent Google from making a national network, right? But what's to stop Google from bidding on all regions and all 12 licenses (two per region). Money talks, and that spectrum walks?over to Google.

I'm not sure how Google's recent WiMAX portal deal with Sprint fits into all this. Perhaps it's a primer for a bigger, better future technology deal with the wireless giant that could help Google fast-track its 700-MHz plans. PC Mag columnist John C. Dvorak made a decent case online for a Sprint-Google network, but I find it hard to believe that Google will want to fold its brand under an existing system.

When Google wins and creates a new national network (something way beyond the reach of WiMAX), there will be bigger questions, like how it will effectively transform the infrastructure that supported millions and millions of televisions sets. Qualcomm has taken years to get the now-unused UHF spectrum ready, and the MediaFLO service on Verizon is only just rolling out in a handful of cities. Verizon spent well over a decade building out the fiber network, but the rollout to cities is?and I'm being kind?slow.

Obviously, Google does not have to dig ditches or lay pipe. The antennas are there. But the phones and mobile devices that will work with the GooSpectrum are not. I've noted how the Verizon Mobile TV phones use a rather long, extendable antenna (like the first cell phones). Will the GooPhones need an antenna that resembles the old pigeon-attracting, roof variety?

I know that's highly unlikely (and even if we do start with big antennas, they'll eventually shrink, and then disappear), but there are technical hurdles to solve with the 700-MHz spectrum. The signal goes through walls, but most of us can remember how critical the placement of that rooftop antenna was. Without that, will the small handheld antenna be strong enough to hold a signal, or will we be buying phone-size rabbit ears for our GooPhones??next: An Open Device > Next

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2164886,00.asp

[Barefootsies]

Google's open-wireless bid: FCC decision Tuesday

For several weeks now, I've been pushing Google's $4.6 billion plan for an open wireless Internet. Now we're nearly at decision time. The FCC will vote tomorrow on whether Google's plan or that of large telecom firms will apply to the upcoming auction of wireless radio space known as the 700 MHz band. As the Washington Post notes, the vote will mark the first big test of Google's lobbying savvy.

To recap, the fight concerns radio space that is being vacated by TV broadcasters (they've switched from analog to compressed digital signals). Next year, the FCC will hold an auction to sell the space, and industry observers believe the spectrum will be quite lucrative -- allowing companies to provide faster, better wireless Internet services across the country. But because wireless companies have not welcomed openness on their cell networks -- they decide what devices you can use and what programs you can run on them -- Google and several large Internet firms have been lobbying the FCC to rule that any company that ends up with 700 MHz space must manage it in an "open" manner.

Specifically, Google calls for the FCC to apply the following rules: 1) Firms that win 700 MHz space must let customers download and use any software on the network; 2) they must let customers use any device on the network; 3) they've got to lease wireless space to third-party wireless providers at commercial rates; 4) and they've got to allow their wireless networks to interconnect with other Internet service providers.

Verizon and other telecom firms argue that Google's plan will lower the revenues the government -- i.e., American taxpayers -- raise at auction. To deflect this case, Google promised Kevin Martin, the FCC chairman, that it would bid $4.6 billion for spectrum only if he enacts all its proposed rules.

In a draft proposal that he circulated a few weeks ago, Martin stunned the telecom-friendly Washington policy establishment by siding with Google on points 1 and 2 from above. But despite Google's billion-dollar offer, Martin seems opposed to Google's call for instituting points 3 and 4.

The Post gives a clue as to why. Google's lobbying budget pales in comparison to that of the telecom firms, and "some FCC staff members said the company's tech gurus came across as arrogant in meetings with commissioners." One anonymous staff member says of Google, "they're used to getting what they want rather than having to make a case for what they want."

Tomorrow, we'll finally find out if Google managed to get what it wants (and what the rest of us want, too).

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007.../fcc_decision/

[stickyfingerz]

Who will be the first provider to sell cellphone service that is paid just by ads?

[tony286]

Originally Posted by stickyfingerz

Who will be the first provider to sell cellphone service that is paid just by ads?

You have a point. I also wonder will the phone be cheap if its going to have all kinds of ads.

[Brother Bilo]

Barefootsie's posts were too long to read, were there good points in there?

[jonesonyou]

ALL OF THE Gs in your neighborhood will have the Gphone .

[natas]

Originally Posted by jonesonyou

ALL OF THE Gs in your neighborhood will have the Gphone .

oh fo' sho'

all these guys are gonna want one



now datswhatimtalkinbout

[LiveDose]

FYI, it's 'The Google'.

[Iron Fist]

When is the G-Spot coming out and where can I find one?

[fuzzylogic]

Originally Posted by 1337DK

Some day Google will take control of the World, just like Pinkie and Brain :D

lol

[dcortez]

of course, it's an essential component of the new and improved CIA (of the new world order run the the neocon crazies).

There is such a thing as too central and monopolous.

But the lemmings continue to march on to the cliff edge...

[geeknik]

Retarded.

[germ]

Originally Posted by sharphead

When is the G-Spot coming out and where can I find one?

its a myth. it doesnt actually exist.

[Jarmusch]

I only hope Google continues with their "Do No Evil" motto when they take over the world.