.mobi It will be official, welcome Google's Gphone

[BocaVision]

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz October 30, 2007

Sometimes, vaporware condenses into the real deal.

We've been writing about Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) potential entry into the wireless market since last year. Leading tech-industry watchers like TechCrunch and GigaOm have also devoted plenty of time to covering the urban legend that just won't die.

Well, now the mainstream media is getting in on the fun. This morning's Wall Street Journal reports that Google plans to make the Gphone gossip official within the next two weeks, citing "people familiar with the matter" as a source.

Google has supposedly been making the rounds with handset makers to square away the hardware, and it's leaning toward Deutsche Telekom's (NYSE: DT) T-Mobile USA as the stateside carrier of choice. A rollout could come as early as next summer.

It's easy to see why Google would want in on the market. As newer phones seamlessly integrate Web-surfing features, Google doesn't want a browser titan like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to hog all the fun.

Google applications are already incorporated in several popular handsets. Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone has its own YouTube player and Google Maps, and the latter feature is a staple on many other phones.

That's nice, but Google would rather establish direct relationships with its users. After all, information is a search engine's favorite food. The better it knows you, the easier it is for Google to anticipate your needs and -- oh, right -- serve up targeted ads.

The whole "ad-supported model" has fueled speculatation that Gphone won't cost a dime to use, but that's just not realistic. What carrier would side with Gphone if such a deal would eat into its paying subscribers? Revenue-sharing is lucrative, but not that lucrative.

By the same token, if Google plans to deliver local ads through its phone, what's the allure of going with an unproven Google? It's not like Apple, where the iPhone was a convergence appliance to help consolidate iPods with handsets. No one will want to pay market prices for a phone -- no matter how spiffy and feature-laden -- if it interrupts their calls with sponsored pitches.

The reality will probably fall somewhere in the middle. Calling plan rates may run at mainstream prices, but Web usage beyond that will be subsidized -- at least partly -- through Google ad consumption.

The balance has to be right if Google wants to win both user and carrier support. At the end of the day, there might not be a proper balance at all.

Hooray for Gphone
So who will win with the Gphone? Google, of course. The company is now selling more than $4 billion in online advertising every quarter. Much of that comes from small advertisers trying to drum up local leads, and the Gphone will be the perfect handshake enabler.

On the other side of town and need a dry cleaner, pronto? Your favorite Thai restaurant is closed, but you still have a craving for a bowl of tom yum soup? Google's there with a pair of gloves and a cash register to make it happen.

If the Gphone is a hit, the carrier and handset maker (or makers) will also be rewarded. As long as it doesn't cannibalize conventional business, the Gphone may work out as well for T-Mobile as the iPhone will for AT&T (NYSE: T).

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/10/30/gphone-really.aspx

 

[Mobi Cheap]

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/10/30/gphone-really.aspx

Thank you Boca!

IMHO you've highlighted the right parts of the article. Some of the rest of the author's views are a little bit too skeptical for my liking, in terms of the potential for mobile advertising - it's a little bit like reading a famous .com owner's blog.

The market doesn't seem to show any skepticism at all - nice chart here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2007/10/30/a-google-rumor-buy-now/?mod=msn_money_ticker

And this is an excerpt from a Reuters article today.

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According the Wall Street Journal, the Google-powered phones are expected to meld several of its applications, including Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail.

The ground-breaking part of the plan, according to the newspaper, is Google's aim to make the phone's software "open", right down to the operating system which controls applications and interacts with hardware.
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Take that, Steve!
:hehe:

PS: Rep added!

 

[mjnels]

hmm the fabled gphone..

 

[Mobi Cheap]

hmm the fabled gphone..

wherefore didst thou doubt?

%%-

 

[snoop]

Very interesting, I wonder if this is going to an existing phone essentially rebranded? (zune style) Hard to imagine Google making the hardware.

 

[allnicksgone]

Google in talks with Verizon on mobile push:http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/excite-com/news-story.asp?guid={D03D8680-8409-4523-BEE8-E382370C2DC5}

 

[italiandragon]

I`d love to have a GPhone despite so far I resisted to all mobiles.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

Very interesting, I wonder if this is going to an existing phone essentially rebranded? (zune style) Hard to imagine Google making the hardware.

IMHO it doesn't really matter Snoop, there are so many companies that can make good hardware.

Google's stock just hit $700 today, 23 DAYS after it hit $600.

To me that sounds like the smart money is saying Google know what they are doing.
:imho:

 

[italiandragon]

IMHO it doesn't really matter Snoop, there are so many companies that can make good hardware.

Google's stock just hit $700 today, 23 DAYS after it hit $600.

To me that sounds like the smart money is saying Google know what they are doing.
:imho:

$700

Where was I ? I think last time I checked it ....was around $400

 

[Mobi Cheap]

$700

Where was I ? I think last time I checked it ....was around $400

I asked myself the same question 23 days ago, and made this thread to annoy new-trend skeptics:

http://www.namepros.com/industry-news/382697-gm-coka-cola-together-worth-less.html
:hehe:

 

[Mobi Cheap]

wherefore didst thou doubt?

%%-

Happy gPhone Monday!

Not long to wait now, and the WSJ has just reconfirmed its belief in the gPhone in this article dated today:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB119422150390881955.html

Relevant excerpts:
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What Will Google Mean to Phones?
Search Titan Hopes To Entice Others to Develop Features To Exploit the Mobile Web
…
November 5, 2007

...If Google succeeds at rallying developers previously turned off by the hassles of developing for mobile phones, it could open the way for consumers to start doing more easily on their phones what they can already do on the Web…

...As a result, Google's announcement is expected to set off a race among Silicon Valley developers, long shut out of the wireless industry, to come up with new applications for cellphones…

...Internet start-ups have been reluctant to commit their limited resources to mobile. But Google is enormously popular with developers. For example, after Google announced a new set of common standards for building services for social networks last week, start-ups were brimming with questions about whether they would translate to mobile…

...And because open software can make it easier to tap the Internet from a cellphone, developers say Google's push is expected to boost the amount of content they can provide to mobile users....

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Good for mobile, good for .mobi!
:imho: