The gPhone that isn't a Phone
By Anthony CARUANA
For the last few months speculation has been rampant that Google was about to launch its own attack on the iPhone and the cell phone market in general. In many ways it didn't seem to make sense that Google, a software company, was going to enter one of the most competitive hardware markets. Then again, Google's Midas touch hasn't had many misses. After all, who'd have thought that a company that specialises in searching for stuff would end up being a powerhouse in cartography.
Rather than build a phone, Google's surrounded themselves with a some of the phone market's leaders and created the Open Handset Alliance. The prize for Google - they get their software onto the handsets of a bunch of the most influential players. On the handset side of things the alliance's membership includes HTC, Motorola, LG and Samsung. Conspicuously absent are Nokia and Sony Ericsson but that doesn't mean they won't come to party fashionably late.
The alliance says that:
Today, there are 1.5 billion television sets in use around the world. 1 billion people are on the Internet. But nearly 3 billion people have a mobile phone, making it one of the world's most successful consumer products. Building a better mobile phone would enrich the lives of countless people across the globe. The Open Handset Alliance™ is a group of mobile and technology leaders who share this vision for changing the mobile experience for consumers.
Given all the recent attention given to the iPhone's user interface and the customisation OEMs are doing to Windows Mobile (see this column at APCMag.com) this signals a sea-change in the evolution of the mobile phone.
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Life wasn't meant to be spent sitting still. You're meant to get out in the world and to do that you've got to be able to carry your tech. Anthony Caruana's been hooked on portable computers and mobile comms since before PDAs existed. Writing for some of the most respected tech titles, he focuses on getting the most from the tech you can carry about.
