Finally, all the speculations about a phone, that will be fully manufactured and branded by Google, is coming true. Earlier, many rumors about the Google Phone had surfaced. The products that fueled these speculations were Android, Google voice etc. But now we definitely know that the Google Phone is real and it is coming very soon, maybe in 2010.
On December 11, 2009 some Google employees started tweeting about the Android powered Google Phone, that they are getting from Google. Google has also confirmed the news, that it is testing a new Android powered device with employees around the world. Google is saying, it is doing this for the employees, as a part of Christmas celebrations. But why cannot we believe that it will start selling the Phone to customers? In fact Google’s decision to release a phone shows its fear that, the Android platform, which it had built by itself, will be commercialized by other hardware vendors like HTC, Samsung etc.
Update: According to PC World, the phone on the right could very well be the Google Phone.
For now, no official news has come from Google, but we have some very specific and interesting details about this Google Phone:
Leaked Pictures [via: theunlockr]
UPDATE: The Google phone is confirmed: it’s called the Nexus One.
A Google product manager has responded to the Google Phone tweets leaking out with a vague non-denial. Google’s Mario Queiroz calls the new handsets a “mobile lab” being used to test “new mobile features and capabilities.”
What he doesn’t say: Is this handset set to become a flagship “Google Phone” to challenge the iPhone? Will it carry Google branding and be distributed by Google? Or is this merely an expanded test for new features in AndroidAndroid?
His non-denial implies at least some of this is true: Google is set to be more involved with this HTC phone (almost certainly the rumored HTC Passion) than previous devices.
Queiroz writes:
“At GoogleGoogle, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from ‘eating your own dogfood’). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level.
We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.
Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.”
What do you think? Could a Google Phone be imminent?
Posted on 14 December 2009
// Look familiar? For a story that broke on Twitter it’s only fitting that the first reported picture of the mythical, magical “Google Phone” (AKA, Nexus One) would appear there as well. The tweeted image above appears courtesy of one Cory O’Brien, an account manager at a San Francisco Bay Area marketing agency that does not list Google as a client. That note of caution aside, the image above is an exact match to that leaked HTC Passion / Bravo image from October, only this time lacking the HTC logo on the top-side bezel. Besides the pic, O’Brien tweets that the “Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android.” Granted, none of this is confirmed yet, but with Google releasing so many of the devices as part of its “mobile lab” concept, well, we expect to see plenty more sightings in the run up to the rumored January launch.
Update: A quick search for “nexus one” on Google’s Picasa photo service reveals several pictures taken with a camera pegged as the HTC Nexus One in the EXIF data. The very first of these geotagged 2592×1944 pixel (that’s a 5 megapixel sensor folks, hardly “weirdly large” as described by TechCrunch) images were taken by user Bradley (who just happens to be a Picasa friend to Sergey… hint) in the SF Bay Area on November 27th. A few are clearly lit by an onboard flash as well. In fact, many of the pics appear to be taken from within Google’s offices and at Google sponsored events. The quality is not exactly spectacular and that won’t likely change in the final product because even Google’s bound by the laws of physics when it comes to tiny cellphone sensors.
Update 2: The device seems to have been around earlier with an EXIF identifier of “Phone88.” Fortunately, Google’s own employees have uploaded pics of the device, by the device, for us to marvel at — so meta. Check the gallery for the images or a quickie close-up posted after the break.
