Google G-Phone / Google Phone

Google will come out in mid-2008 with a mobile phone platform that incorporates a variety of Google online services and lets outside developers create applications, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The goal is to make Google applications and services as easily accessible on mobile phones as PCs, so that the company can extend its advertising business to cell phones and other wireless devices. Google may announce its mobile platform within weeks, according to the Journal.

The Journal’s article, based on anonymous sources, is the latest of multiple reports over the past six months or so about Google’s plans for the mobile market.

Although at some point it was speculated that Google might be involved in the actual manufacturing of phone hardware, that rumor is now discredited, as Google is expected to focus on developing mobile software.

For Google, it’s critical to replicate on mobile phones the success it has had on PC-based online advertising. After years of unfulfilled promises, mobile advertising will boom in coming years, as people spend more time using the Internet via their cell phones.

The Kelsey Group recently forecast that mobile search and display advertising in the U.S. will hit $33.2 million this year and grow at a compound annual rate of 112 percent through 2012, when it will total $1.4 billion.

Kelsey Group also expects the number of mobile Internet users to grow at a 20 percent compound annual clip in the U.S. through 2012, when there will be almost 92 million people going online via their cell phones.

Worldwide, mobile ad spending is expected to reach US$1.5 billion this year and grow to $11.3 billion by 2011, according to market researcher Informa Telecoms & Media.

Google is far from alone in its interest at pursuing this emerging opportunity in the mobile market, where all major telecom, online publishing and Internet players are jockeying for position.

Of course, delivering online services and applications via mobile phones isn’t as straightforward as doing it via PCs. In the mobile market, providers of online applications often have to strike up deals and partnerships with handset makers and wireless carriers.

In a recent interview with the IDG News Service, Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of Search Products & User Experience, acknowledged there are specific challenges to bringing Google services to cell-phone subscribers.

“The mobile space is very complicated,” she said.

Google has pursued various avenues for making its search engines and other services available via cell phones. It has adapted Google Web sites for mobile browsers, developed mobile applications people can download themselves, as well as preloaded Google software in handsets via formal partnerships with mobile industry players.

GosuBlogger

Wasn't Google supposed to have already announced its Google phone?

That question comes to mind whenever I hear about Google's imminent plans to announce a Google mobile phone device, mobile operating system, or suite of mobile applications. But, here we go again.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting Google will unveil within two weeks its own "advanced software and services that would allow handset makers to bring Google-powered phones to market by the middle of next year."

The Journal report suggests Google may make its announcement in tandem with a handset maker such as Taiwan's HTC Corp. or South Korea's LG Electronics. The report also hints a Google announcement might also shed light on a partnership with wireless carrier T-Mobile USA or France Telecom's Orange SA.

For months now the blogosphere has been buzzing with speculation about Google's desire to make applications and services as accessible to mobile phones as they are to PCs on the Internet. But carriers, critics say, see Google's plan as a threat to their control over the user experience and profits. In August, according to Rediff News, Google was set to launch its mobile phone by early September.

A possible Google phone could include an "open" operating system that would allow third-party developers to create applications for the phone beyond mobile offerings already offered by Google such as Google Maps, YouTube, and Gmail, according the report.

update--The head of Google in Spain and Portugal has confirmed that Google is working on a mobile phone. "Some of the time the engineers are dedicated to developing a mobile phone," Isabel Aguilera is quoted as saying on the Spanish-news Web site Noticias.com.

A Google spokeswoman in the United States released this statement when asked for comment: "Mobile is an important area for Google and we remain focused on creating applications and establishing and growing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide. However, we have nothing further to announce."

Google stateside has repeatedly declined to comment on rumors of a Google Phone, but the smoke has been rising lately. Earlier this month, Simeon Simeonov of Polaris Venture Partners wrote in his blog that an inside source told him the Google Phone will be a BlackBerry-like device running C++ at the core with an operating system bootstrap, or loading program, and optimized Java, and that it would offer voice over Internet Protocol.

Rumors also circulated that Google and Samsung were building a phone, code-named "Switch," Simeonov said, and his posting includes what he claims is a leaked photo of the device. That wouldn't be so far-fetched, since Google and Samsung announced a partnership in January to bundle mobile versions of Google Search, Google Maps and Gmail on certain Samsung phones. Late last year, the rumor was that France Telecom Group's mobile-telephony division Orange was in discussions with Google.

Plus, Google has on its payroll Andy Rubin, the founder of handheld device maker Danger who later started Android, a mobile-software maker that Google bought in 2005. Google also acquired mobile-applications company Reqwireless and secretly acquired a company called Skia, whose first product is a portable graphics engine that renders 2D graphics on handhelds.

Google, the nearly $13.5 billion search engine major, is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with service providers in India for an exclusive launch on one of their networks.

Talks are believed to be taking place with Bharti Airtel [Get Quote] and Vodafone Essar, respectively India's first and third largest mobile telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

Sources close to the development said a simultaneous launch across the US and Europe is expected, and announcements would be sent to media firms in India and other parts of the world. US regulatory approval, which is expected soon, is the only hurdle that Google is waiting to cross, they added. Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony foray.

In India, it is also believed to be in talks with Indian providers to offer data and content and platforms including Instant Messaging (IM) and Search functions. However, these could not be confirmed.

A Google spokesperson said, "We don't comment on market rumour or speculation. However, Google is committed to providing users with access to the world's information, and mobile becomes more important to those efforts every day. We're collaborating with partners worldwide to bring Google search and applications to mobile users everywhere. However, we have nothing to announce at this time."

Reports of the Internet major getting into handset manufacturing as an answer to Apple's iPhone has been doing rounds in cyberspace and international media for some time. These reports suggest that Google has developed a prototype that will hit the markets in a year's time. The US-based company has neither confirmed nor denied these reports. The Wall Street Journal too had reported that Google had invested "hundreds of millions of dollars" in the project and was involved in discussions with US-based T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

Globally, Google is likely to participate in the upcoming auction for 700 MHz spectrum for which it is prepared to spend up to $4.6 billion. The firm is also introducing ads to YouTube videos which could be replicated on mobile phones. Ironically, Google recently partnered Apple to produce services such as e-mail and maps for its iPhone handset. And Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said recently that more Google services for the iPhone would be rolled out.

Google is reportedly working on a mobile handset to speed up the mobile ad distribution process, with its service at the helm.

What’s been dubbed the Google Phone or the GPhone, may be the provider of a free, ad-supported mobile service. The company is working on a new web browser for cell phones, and is wanting to put its service at the forefront of people using handheld devices. While Google has already extended its ads services from the web to print and radio ads, its mobile advertising offering has already been established, along with its search capabilities and GMail integration, among other applications.

Considering the issues it’s had regarding mobile network providers, however, it would appear that Google is anxious to dominate the mobile industry on a number of levels, acting independently of any particular mobile carrier. Creating its own handset with mobile browsing functionality would put other companies at the mercy of Google, on several levels, when it comes to the potential users of its handset, which would hopefully be offered through several wireless companies, from AT&T to Verizon.

If someone were to offer a free, ad-supported mobile option, Google would be among the most likely to succeed. It’s a delicate business model that requires existing relationships with several aspects of the mobile and advertising community, and that’s something Google has. Blyk is one company that’s been working on a similar offering for some time now, and has not yet reached its goal of launching its service to the public.

In related news, Google is working with Sprint Nextel on a WiMax offering and has also created an Ajax search tool for the iPhone.

Rumors about about a possible Google phone have run so hot and cold recently that it's hard to keep up, but AppleInsider is reporting that the big G is making a big push in developing their own handset. AI says that investment guidance firm Anian has issued a report quoting a development budget in the "hundreds of millions" of dollars and that HTC is being tapped to build a Linux-based Gphone to be launched on T-Mobile in the US in early 2008, with Orange getting the exclusive in France and other countries. Anian also says Google has been in talks with Verizon and AT&T, and that Verizon has already shot the big G down -- much like it did with Apple and the iPhone. As always, rumors are just rumors, so we'll wait and see, but it's hard to ignore the amount of buzz that the Gphone's been getting.