Is Google really planning its own 'gPhone' this time?

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Is Google really planning its own 'gPhone' this time?

By PETER WHITE

Published: 21 October, 2009

READ MORE: Google | OS | Handset | Android

In case we're tired of the will-they won't-they reports about a Microsoft own-branded Windows phone, similar reports have resurfaced about Google, suggesting that the search giant could release its own handset design to associate its brand even more intimately with Android and the mobile market.

The latest round of speculation about a 'gPhone' - widely expected two years ago when, in fact, Android surfaced as software only - was sparked off by Ashok Kumar of Northeast Securities, in a research note. He sees Google tapping into the need for standardized reference designs in the midrange and low end of the phone market, that reduce cost and time to market for vendors by unifying key hardware and software components. Microsoft also recently said it would release its first reference designs for Windows Mobile, probably to makers of lower cost handsets, whether OEMs or white label.

This creation of off-the-shelf handset 'kits' to cut vendor costs is not, of course, the same as Google (or Microsoft) actually creating their own handset and marketing it, with the obvious conflicts of interest with their vendor licensees and potential brakes on the spread of their OSs. But taking control of the reference platforms, rather than relying on third parties, would give either software giant considerable influence on the midrange market and the future direction of webphone design, as well as the opportunity to push their brands (the new 'Windows Phone' and Google's own logo and key apps) to the forefront of the mind of the mass market.

So Google could unveil such a platform by year end, Kumar believes, and he also sees this as a means for the search giant to work directly with vendors and reduce the influence of the operators. The carriers have worked hard in recent years to stamp their own imprint on standardized midrange systems, as devised by operator driven groups like the OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Platform). Google would like to seize that initiative for itself, while reducing fears of the fragmentation of Android, and its big picture vision does envisage a world where consumers access applications directly on the web, with the cellco merely a bitpipe.

In the short term, though, any 'gPhone' platform may be more carrier friendly than Kumar foresees, since the operators remain the chief channel to market for Android devices and Google mobile services. Witness the recent deal that Google struck with Verizon Wireless, to create customized Android devices for that carrier's brand and web services - probably the first real world appearance of a 'gPhone' design, and possibly the source of the new round of rumors.

Kumar's note says: "Google is expected to launch a self branded smartphone by year end followed by a netbook early next year." He expects both to run Android 2.0 and use Qualcomm chips, including the Snapdragon for the netbook. A key aim will be to integrate Google services optimally to create an attractive and simple interface for midrange phones and for vendors that cannot afford to invest in developing their own fully fledged user experience as Motorola has with Motoblur or HTC with Sense.