News December 12, 2009

Google Phone Rumors Swirl, But Is It Real?

Gear Diary Google Phone Rumors Swirl, But Is It Real? photo

Techcrunch broke the news this morning that the mythical Google Phone was caught out and about (maybe its roommate, the Apple Tablet, asked it to pick up some milk?). According to Techcrunch, the phone is “really, really fast”, will have a Snapdragon processor, will have voice to text built-in, and is basically going to be an Android version of the HD2.

Google, meanwhile, is playing coy. They claim they are “dogfooding”, or testing software internally to drive their research and development. That sounds great, but as Phandroid points out, this is an awfully vague statement. Is Google testing some awesome Android app? Are they testing an entirely new Android build? It could be anything…even a port of the ever popular iFart app for Android!

Personally, I think it’s likely that these rumors are swirling because, like Motorola, HTC is working with Google to create a phone that really works Android. It could be another step towards tightening up the Android OS to keep it from fragmenting as customization-happy manufacturers (like HTC) skin it, twist it, and otherwise split it from its base form.

Just to play counter-point, I emailed Dan and asked for his opinion. His take on the news:

If the rumors are true there are some additional things that are quite interesting here. First, it pushes HTC even further into Android-land. The fact that the rumored hardware sounds a whole lot like the HD2 is no surprise but when the device ends up running Android even better than it does WM…

This also potentially addresses one of the biggest issues that Google is going to face. With a reported 50 Android handsets coming in 2010 Google faces the same fracturing issue WM never fully overcame. With Google having their own handset they can call the shots, make no compromises and have the device integrated with the OS far more seamlessly than before. That is huge!

And with WM 7.0 being delayed until the end of next year, real battle-lines are only now being drawn. No surprise it will be Apple VS Google.

What’s your take? Is Google planning an end-run around their hardware partners? And how badly do you want this rumored new phone?

Tags: Android Phones and Tablets, Google

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About Carly Z

View all posts by Carly Z

Carly has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to her first PDA (a Palm M100). She quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. She loves writing about ebooks because they combine her two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?

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roccoaugusto

I really want to get excited but all the Google Phone rumors stink of the same CrunchPad smell. Maybe I'm just use to being disappointed by my electronics – I mean it is less then 20 days away from the year 2010 and we STILL don't have flying cars.
- Carly Z
  
  Seriously! If “Back to the Future” is any indication, in the next 5 years I expect flying cars and holographic sharks!
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alese

I don't know about flying cars, but if google wants to have a platform which will dominate market share, then having own device is not a good idea – it will drive away other manufacturers sooner or later and give Microsoft opportunity to get back in the game.
Also unlike Apple, I think Google should not be that interested in having one profitable device, but in having a platform on which to drive their services, adverts and ultimately revenue.
jcomm

iFart has been out for Android for about 6 months now! you just can't find it in their crappy marketplace.