Back in August I had written about the report that was published on Rediff and Business Standard. The report mentioned that Google was fortnight away from announcing its Google Gphone. It was quite surprising to me at that time and I had clearly questioned the authenticity of this news. There was also an image of Gphone floating around.
Infact, here is what was published. Just look at the story that was cooked up.
Google, the nearly $13.5 billion search engine major, is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with service providers in India for an exclusive launch on one of their networks.
Talks are believed to be taking place with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, respectively India’s first and third largest mobile telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam.
Sources close to the development said a simultaneous launch across the US and Europe is expected, and announcements would be sent to media firms in India and other parts of the world. US regulatory approval, which is expected soon, is the only hurdle that Google is waiting to cross, they added. Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony foray.
And today Google has officially put to rest all the speculation about the Gphone rumors. They made announcement of Android, a comprehensive suit of mobile software.
Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we’re not announcing a Gphone. However, we think what we are announcing — the Open Handset Alliance and Android — is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, we hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today.
I don’t know how Indian media got to know about this cooked up stories and decided to feature it on their sites.
Here is what Android is all about:
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The launch of the new Google internet-enabled phone (whenever that happens) will definitely alter the communication and entertainment space. This development does sound very promising especially for content developers (especially the ones in the new media). Taking into consideration, the fact that there are roughly around 30 million Indians who access the internet through the cell phones, vis-a-vis 23 million (approx) who access the web through the more traditional route of PC’s, mobile company’s can look forward to a Mobile Telephony 2.0 revolution on the lines of Web 2.0.
Another test comment
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