Tuesday, August 07, 2007 Limpag: Google phone on the horizon? By Max Limpag Celltalk
GIANT. For those old enough to recall its early days, Google is the epitome of the giant killer. From a student project, it is now an Internet giant. Google is now so ubiquitous that the company’s name has become synonymous with searching online.
Last week, stories came out that the multi-billion-dollar company is planning to release a cell phone in a move to capture a still-emerging market for advertisements on cell phones. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the company “is courting wireless operators to carry handsets customized to Google products, including its search engine, e-mail and a new mobile Web browser.” WSJ said the phone is still on its planning stages and will not be available to consumers until next year.
The company, according to WSJ, “has made clear it is serious about developing advanced software and services for cell phones.” Google chief executive officer Eric Schmidt had said in May: “What’s interesting about the ads in the mobile phone is that they are twice as profitable or more than the nonmobile phone ads because they’re more personal.”
MOBILE APPLICATIONS. Google is no stranger to applications for mobile phones. Its GMail for mobile phones is probably one of the best applications that can run on multiple phone models. I use GMail for mobile application almost every day. Unlike other mobile e-mail applications I’ve tried, GMail for mobile is so easy to use and replicates on the phone the functionality you get on the PC browser. If Google’s coming phone lives up to the ease of use of its GMail for mobile application, then I’m signing up.
PERSONAL OR INTRUSIVE? But a critical issue on such a device is the question on privacy. Google, according to the article, sees the possibility that phones will be free of monthly subscriptions in the future, with the service supported entirely by ad revenues. Think about it this way: when you send a text message to your girlfriend asking her out on an Italian dinner date, an ad will then be displayed on the phone with links to Italian restos near your location. Or what if you keep on calling dimsum takeouts and then the phone displays ads of other dimsum outlets? Will you feel your privacy has been violated? I’ve never minded online as I’ve developed an advanced form of ad blindness. But in the small screen, the ads will be harder to miss.
GO OPEN SOURCE. But I wished Google had gone on a different path in developing its phone platform and supported OpenMoko, the project developing an open source operating system for mobile phones. Google is a big supporter of several open source projects and by going the OpenMoko way, it will be able to develop the application with a community of users behind it.
