October 15, 2007
Google's GPhone strategy could keep user costs low
According to USA Today, Google's widely anticipated - and top secret - GPhone mobile phone project could trump Apple' glitzy iPhone - by going low cost and low tech, tech analysts say. USA Today reports. [via Techmeme]
"...Google won't discuss details of its GPhone strategy. But it has long been open about its desire to get advertisers to begin sponsoring Google search results on mobile devices just as they do on Internet-connected PCs
... Aimed at young users, a browser GPhone would probably sell at a fraction of the price of an iPhone, or other smart phones, Trip Chowdhry, analyst at Global Equities Research, says. One major hitch: Cellphone carriers are insisting on a cut of ad revenue. "The carriers want money any time the phones are turned on, especially if the call is to Google," said Richard Doherty, research director at The Envisioneering Group.
Device makers have basic GPhone designs ready to go. Once Google signs an agreement with a launch carrier, "GPhones could flow into the market in a matter of weeks," he says.
Unrelated image from Google Logos 2002
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