Google gPhone over phone a year away?

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196892.post-38253656773448096312007-11-04T02:03:00.000-05:002007-11-05T05:40:34.848-05:00Google gPhone over phone a year away?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_OzPHM3JH3cE/Ry1vqmayWLI/AAAAAAAAArE/Fs5iEZJ892g/s1600-h/google-phone-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_OzPHM3JH3cE/Ry1vqmayWLI/AAAAAAAAArE/Fs5iEZJ892g/s320/google-phone-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128878328302950578" border="0" /></a><a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://abhishek.tiwari.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/google-phone-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/google-phone/our-google-phone-wishlist-312130.php&h=387&w=600&sz=28&hl=en&start=16&sig2=kPFaqMuQGCbPYQPioJmTnQ&tbnid=Wg0dSWc7aLBJ3M:&tbnh=87&tbnw=135&ei=-W4tR9CKFYmygALf3azrBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgoogle%2Bphone%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG">Gizmodo hopes</a> the gPhone will look like the image here.>> Their wish list includes a music player that, "doesn't suck but isn't an iPod." Pretty funny, though the idea that it might use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_%28online_music_service%29">Rhapsody</a> the all-you-can-eat music rental service is not a bad one. No one knows when a gPhone will arrive but speculation is all over the map. The most interesting thoughts I've seen are in <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2007/11/04/2003386212">this Taipei Times article</a> that predicts the phone is a year away (safe bet I'd guess) and says the phone may be based on free software that Google provides to cell phone companies with the hope that developers will build on their open platform. That sounds a lot like the wishlist from iPhone reviewers to me, though. "Let the phone be open to development, man!!" Well, now that Apple has announced the upcoming release of a Software Developer's Kit (SDK) early next year, those complaints don't seem to be so urgent. What reviewers are still on about is being able to use the phone with any Cell Provider they choose. Personally, I'd rather see Apple continue to tackle AT&T on behalf of the end users. __________________ Coda: I posted the above yesterday (It is early November 5 2007 as I write this) and no less than the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119422150390881955-G27XqOF_uetz731MQ5_6dG0I2kc_20071204.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top">Wall Street Journal published an article on the gPhone today</a> saying their announcement could come as soon as today! Well, who knows. But, it is interesting to note that <a href="http://www.internetnews.com/wireless/article.php/3695841">Google is likely to bid on a big chunk of low end radio spectrum that could be used for an open standard cell phone projec</a>t and that they've been instrumental in getting the FCC to suggest that whoever gets that 700 MHz spectrum may have to make some of it available for what could be advanced wireless services. Part of the band will be allocated to emergency public services. The auction takes place in January 2008 and Google's interest seems to be attracting other high profile bidders. <a href="http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3701781">Yahoo is said to be interested and Verizon may be taking the FCC ruling to the courts</a>.decaturcomphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07083796331913140220noreply@blogger.com