Google Phone (gPhone) Features and Specifications

Google Phone (gPhone) Features and Specifications

The specifications Google has laid out for devices suggest that manufacturers include cameras for photo and video, and built-in Wi-Fi technology to access the Web at hot spots such as airports, coffee shops and hotels. It also is recommending that gPhones be designed to work on carriers’ fastest networks, known as 3G, to ensure that Web pages can be downloaded quickly. Google suggests the phones could include Global Positioning System technology that identifies where people are.

People who have seen Google’s prototype gPhones say they aren’t as revolutionary as the iPhone. One was likened to a slim Nokia Corp. phone with a keyboard that slides out. Another phone format presented by Google looked more like a Treo or a BlackBerry. It’s not clear which manufacturers might build the Google Phone, though people familiar with the project say LG Electronics Co. of South Korea is one company that has held talks with Google. Google has already lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it’s open to various degrees of cooperation on their part, the people say.

Review: Google Phone

People who have seen Google’s prototype devices say they aren’t as revolutionary as the iPhone. One was likened to a slim Nokia Corp. phone with a keyboard that slides out. Another phone format presented by Google looked more like a Treo or a BlackBerry. It’s not clear which manufacturers might build Google wireless devices, though people familiar with the project say LG Electronics Co. of South Korea is one company that has held talks with Google. Google has already lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it’s open to various degrees of cooperation on their part, the people say.

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New pictures of the Google Phone: Survey reveals more info about Google phone?

Google Switch Phone

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Google Switch Phone by Samsung?

Google Phone concept design by Google Phone [DogOrGod.com]

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Google Vision Concept Phone

Google Phone Review

Google gPhone mock up designed by Jas Seehra of DialAPhone.

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Image courtesy of T3

gPhone Concept Designs

These Google phone concepts were sent in by Google phone fans and/or found on the Internet. If you saw your concept design on this page, and you didn’t submit the image(s), please let me know to remove or to add your name.

Please email vincentn@gmail.com or tipline@gmail.com for corrections and/or to submit new Google phone images that is not already on this page.

Thanks, Vincent

11/12/2007

It’s been a long week waiting around for more updates or really anything new regarding the Open Handset Alliance or Android. Alas, today is November 12th, and they have released the SDK for Android.

Reference design from Android SDK

http://androidcommunity.com

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Google patent network-hopping cellphone: best price guaranteed

A freshly published Google patent filing suggests that, while the company may be on good terms with cellular carriers now, in the future the telcos might be a little more resentful. Titled “Flexible Communication Systems and Methods”, the document describes a system whereby a mobile device - such as an Android cellphone - could monitor and judge available wireless networks and route voice and data traffic over whichever was the cheapest. Google’s filing describes cellular, WiFi and WiMAX networks as all being potential routes, with the technicalities invisible to the user; their example is a mobile handset that works on home WiFi then seamlessly transitions to a WiFi hotspot or cellular network when outside.

The project, if undertaken, would require hardware changes to both handsets and networks. Pricing data would need to be quickly offered by the competing networks, and the phone capable of ascertaining the best route and, most importantly for the user experience, doing so instantly, consistently and with no input from the user themselves. However there would be a number of user-definable options - or, more accurately, preferences - that would prevent the system from merely being a race to the bottom line. The handset could be instructed to prioritize on bandwidth or signal strength, depending on the intended usage.

“In addition to cost as a factor in selecting appropriate telecommunications providers, users may opt for alternative auction models based on maximal bandwidth offered, best coverage/reliability, or some combination of options” Google patent

Google is unlikely to find too many fans of the concept at the telcos, who prize their by-now standard two-year contracts. However the patent - which was filed in March 2007 - does throw more light on Google’s actions over the past eighteen months. The recent FCC 700MHz spectrum auction, in which the search giant bid just high enough to topple the so-called “beach front” spectrum into mandatory open-access provisos, now means Google have a pass to use whatever network is eventually built. Google has also heavily invested in WiMAX, spending around $500m on the US Sprint-Clearwire partnership.

If it can leverage both of those networks, and produce a system that drives user demand, analysts believe the carriers will have no choice but to participate. First Google would need to persuade the FCC that it would be an offering in the best interest of competition and consumers; given the relationship of the two organisations in the past, it seems likely to be approved.

Forget iPhone, Think Google Phone

The Observer of London is reporting that Google might be working with HTC and mobile/telecom giant Orange to build a Google Mobile Phone, which could possibly have Google software inside the device, and would be able to do many of the web tasks smartly. The device, article speculates, could go on sale in 2008. (Of course, we would all have forgotten by then… if it doesn’t happen.) Orange and Google, both declined to comment.

Their plans centre on a branded Google phone, which would probably also carry Orange’s logo. The device would not be revolutionary: manufactured by HTC, a Taiwanese firm specialising in smart phones and Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), it might have a screen similar to a video iPod. But it would have built-in Google software which would dramatically improve on the slow and cumbersome experience of surfing the web from a mobile handset.

It would be interesting to see if this comes to fruition. Google, in recent months has become increasingly aggressive about its mobile ambitions, and is pushing into the carrier space, though there have been some snags.

Google Phone, if you think about it is a reasonable speculation. Google has been aggressive in developing location based services, has amp-ed up its local search and mapping services. In addition, it has also been mobilizing its applications such as GTalk and GMail. YouTube, the video arm of Google, is beginning to embrace the mobile ecosystem.

Normally, one would not spend too much energy on this bit of news. However, presence of Andy Rubin on Google campus gives us a reason to pause.

Who is Rubin? He was one of the co-founders of Danger, the company that makes the Sidekick devices. He sold his last company, Android to Google for an undisclosed amount of money, and he has been holed up in Mountain View, California campus of Google, doing something.

No one knows what, but since Android was focusing on mobile, it is safe to assume that he just might be involved in Android. Danger, as you might know has become a multimillion dollar business based off the “compress web and take it mobile” technology developed by Rubin and others. Businessweek had reported that Android was working on a cell phone operating system.

One source familiar with the company says Android had at one point been working on a software operating system for cell phones. … In a 2003 interview with BusinessWeek, just two months before incorporating Android, Rubin said there was tremendous potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner’s location and preferences. “If people are smart, that information starts getting aggregated into consumer products,” said Rubin.

For Orange, this could be a valuable asset in its triple play ambitions. The company owns broadband businesses across Europe, and has access to 3G networks, and is owned by France Telecom. It could use Google’s web expertise to take on its rivals, by offering web-mobile hybrid phones, and at the same time get a slice of mobile advertising revenues. I know, sounds far fetched, but not out of the real of possiblity.

Your thoughts?

Google's Android phone to go on sale in September?

T-Mobile USA could put the new HTC Android phone on sale for select customers as early as the middle of September, according to the blog TmoNews.

The news comes as other rumors circulate that Android phones could be delayed into 2009. But TmoNews says it has a reliable source that says the Android device made by smartphone manufacturer HTC will go on sale through T-Mobile USA on September 17.

The price tag will be $399 full retail or about $150 for a subsized phone with a two-year contract. The site also said that only existing T-Mobile customers will be able to buy the phone during the presale timeframe with other customers able to buy the phone a few weeks later in early October.

The new phone, which is being called the HTC Dream in blogs, will support 3G services. A recent video that is posted on YouTube shows that the phone has a touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a 3-megapixel camera. Google software and services like Gmail will be tightly integrated into the device. And TmoNews reports that a Gmail account will be required to set up service for the new device.

T-Mobile will also likely require a more expensive 3G data plan to be used with the device, the blog reported. But details on the cost of the plan haven't been released.

T-Mobile declined to comment on the rumors of the device release, but the carrier has previously said it will offer an Android phone by the end of the year.

Even though the new Android phone is supposed to be 3G capable, subscribers may be disappointed in the 3G experience. T-Mobile is far behind its competitors in rolling out 3G service, with the faster-speed service available only in two markets, New York and Las Vegas. That said, T-Mobile is working to get the service up and running in at least 20 to 25 cities by the end of the year. And it will continue deploying it through 2009. But rolling out a new network is time consuming. So don't expect great coverage anytime soon.

Still, T-Mobile has some other innovative offerings that could appeal to customers. Its HotSpot @Home service allows subscribers to switch between its cell network and a Wi-Fi network for faster speeds and better coverage indoors. It also offers a $10-a-month voice over IP service for subscribers of this service, which is a nice bonus.

The wireless operator is also supposedly planning to launch an open development platform for all of its phone technologies. This platform will ditch T-Mobile's traditional deck, or menu of services, and replace it with one that is open to any developer. In a way, it's T-Mobile's answer to the Apple App store.

But even with the new Android phone and all these other cool services, T-Mobile has a long way to go in catching up to competitors. The company ended the second quarter of 2008 with 31.5 million customers, putting it in a distant fourth place. Meanwhile, AT&T had 72.9 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter. Verizon Wireless finished the quarter with a total of 68.7 million subscribers. And Sprint Nextel, which lost 901,000 subscribers, still has about 51.9 million subscribers.