The Google Phone Is Very Real. And It’s Coming Soon

One possibility is that Google is thinking really outside the box.<p>They have Google Voice and have recently purchased Gizmo5. In addition they have been really working towards providing free Wifi access in various hotspots and have been fighting for wireless spectrum.<p>It may be wishful thinking, especially since I'm not a wireless phone technology expert, but can Google be setting the stage for a pure VOIP Wifi phone which completely bypasses Telcos and can this Google phone be just that?

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. On one hand we have Mike Arrington who is wrong quite a bit. On the other we have the VP of Android Engineering directly stating that Google isn't making a device and won't compete with their customers. If I were a betting man I'd say Mike's going to eat it.<p><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10387677-265.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10387677-265.html</a>

As I said last time these rumors came up, I <i>really</i> don't think this story is accurate.<p>Nobody in the US wants to buy a $500+ phone at retail when they can buy a $150 Droid or a $50 G1 with a new plan. After all, you're going to have to pay the same monthly fee either way.<p>Not to mention the fact that it's basically impossible to have one phone that will get 3G on all US carriers (even supporting just two at once would be difficult and expensive). If it only works on one carrier, how is it any different from the Droid?

My unscientific prediction: Andoid has only a few months to catch up to iPhone by June 2010, when the exclusivity deal with AT&#38;T ends. This is not nearly enough.

&#62; There won’t be any negotiation or compromise over the phone’s design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be.<p>Excuse me, but how exactly will releasing <i>another</i> Android phone <i>reduce</i> splintering of the platform? That doesn't make sense at all.

How will it work on a carrier's 3G network? My understanding was that even most tri-band GSM phones have a custom chip from the carrier in order to work on their particular 3G network. Is that incorrect? If not, how will a phone <i>not</i> tied to a carrier work on, say, T-mobile 3G?

GSM or CDMA?