Connect with us

Hardware

The Google Phone as Stocking Stuffer

Published

on

googlephoneTurns out my prediction about the Google Phone looks pretty good. Apparently Google gave its employees one of the new devices as a Christmas gift. And as a way of creating interest they apparently are looking the other way as those giddy employees are twittering about the device, but not the new Android 2.1 software. Intriguingly we haven’t (yet) seen any pictures of this in operation.

But it has become the story of the weekend as pictures surface and heavy breathing and salivating about the device have taken over the Intertubes. Apparently it is a phone made my HTC and rumors say it will be sold unlocked, but that may just be a rumor. Some say it will be called the Nexus One and some the Passion. Word is we’ll see this at CES and it will be shipping in January. I’m not holding my breath. In any case, this will fuel the mobile wars quite a bit. Ho, Ho, Ho.

Via TechCrunch and just about everybody else.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. GoodThings2Life

    12/13/2009 at 1:01 pm

    Nice. I have to say, I’m not much of a Google person, but I love HTC’s phones this year… every one of their models has a lot going for it, and both Android and Windows Mobile make it really flexible about what people can do with it.

  2. CJ

    12/13/2009 at 1:26 pm

    It’s hilarious to watch as so called tech journalist trip all over each other today to pat themselves on the back claiming that the GPhone rumors are true and how their predictions were correct. Not! It’s an Android dev phone just like the G1 before it. So, much like the original GPhone rumors, Google announcing this phone actually proves the rumors/predictions false. But that’s not going to stop the blogosphere from trying to spin this in their favor. Hi-la-rious!

  3. Warner Crocker

    12/13/2009 at 3:03 pm

    CJ, it is almost as much fun as watching the naysayers say nay! :)

  4. Tim

    12/13/2009 at 3:34 pm

    I’m not getting what the buzz is about. It’s a phone, made by HTC, that runs Android. It’s not like there are plenty of those around…

    Seriously, what’s making this phone so special besides the fact that Google has given them to some employees?

  5. Warner Crocker

    12/14/2009 at 8:15 am

    Tim,

    Let’s see. A company that heretofore sells advertising and creates software now gets into selling (not making) hardware. That changes the mobile landscape in ways that could (or could not) really benefit consumers. Oh, and by the way that company has the market cap to go the distance with pushing this as an initiative. And again, that company is attempting to push the envelope on things like VOIP and GPS that could alter the landscape in lots of fields.

    Now, none of this may happen, but that’s a small percentage of the things that could be affected should this new phone turn out to be the Google Phone.

  6. Tim

    12/14/2009 at 11:33 pm

    But Warner, they won’t be selling the phone. At least, nothing about anything released says “Google will be selling this phone”

    It’s a phone made by HTC, so technically HTC is still selling the phone. This just strikes me as incredibly similar to the G1. A phone made HTC, running Android that people start calling the Google phone. The cell-phone market does not allow for Google to sell the phone. If you want to talk about who sells the actual phone, it’s clearly HTC. Google obviously can’t do this, because they don’t make the actual phone, therefore they can’t take the role of selling that product. If you want to talk about who makes the sale to the customer, then it’s sold by some carrier. Again Google can’t take that role, since carriers subsidize phones and Google doesn’t own wireless spectrum. There’s no way Google can sell the phone AND still make a profit. We know carrier sell them below what they pay, and they get a monthly fee. But Google has no cellular services to get a monthly fee for. And supposing they did, in order to make a profit and change the structure of the cellular market, they would have to sell the phones are a lower price, meaning getting more back in monthly fees. Combine those fees with the fact that one would still need a wireless provider and once again, there’s just no market for it.

    The G1 was pronounced the Google Phone, and it at least deserved credit for that, as it was the first branded by Google and running Android. Nothing has changed since then.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.