Google Phone
What will it mean for the mobile market if Google develops its own mobile phone?Not content with dominating the internet search space, it seems Google is making moves into the telecommunications arena.Rumours of a Google-branded mobile phone handset have been rife in cyberspace this week, with tech experts, bloggers and analysts breathless with anticipation about what this means for the mobile market. While Google has neither confirmed nor denied the reports, developing its own mobile phone to promote and consolidate its suite of applications and services, such as Google Mail, Google Maps and the collaborative working tool Google Docs, seems the next logical step.Google is already a strong presence on mobile phone handsets, having signed partnerships with the likes of Vodafone, Samsung and LG to provide web browsing platforms and pre-loaded software on devices, and a Google spokesman confirmed that it was “dedicated to providing access to the world’s information…no matter when or where [people] want it.” Analysts believe that any move by Google into the handset sector could be driven by a desire to muscle in on mobile advertising. Google already dominates online advertising on the desktop with its Ad Sense program, and it could maximise mobile advertising revenue by cutting out the “middle man” – operators and handset manufacturers. 8 More…
