Will the gPhone be free?

[ohsoferrety]

I read somewhere (can't remember, but I'll try and find the link) that there is the potential for the gPhone to be free. Thoughts?

Personally, I doubt it. Sure, Google will make a killing in advertising, but why give something away when you still can charge a price on a device that people really want?

[poetic_folly]

Won't be free - that'd mean EVERYONE would get one, and 80% wouldn't even activate it. :D There IS a good chance it will be much cheaper than the $600 launch price on the iPhone, since AT&T didn't subsidize the iPhone's cost at all.

[Pavilian]

Yeah, I also wouldn't say free but definitely more affordable for a high percentage of crowds.

[Dash-2]

They would sell a TON if the phone(s) debuted at like $50.

[ReVan]

It's in the news today, Gphone is going to cost in the Indian market $100 only!
It's the cheapest SmartPhone ever sold.

[jjgsxr883]

It's in the news today, Gphone is going to cost in the Indian market $100 only!
It's the cheapest SmartPhone ever sold.
100$ shoot you want one iam buying

[Superbleeder]

Really only $100 that's amazing.

can't wait for the gphone

[cash7c3]

100$ shoot you want one iam buying

everyone? cool thanks for buying me one

[jjgsxr883]

no joke if there a 100$ i will be buying a hand full,,and will give some away.,to some serious modders!!!!!!

[cash7c3]

:eek:

[poetic_folly]

I would like to be your friend then. :D

[DarwinThorne]

Nothing is free, but it's nice to think about. $100 might as well be free though. At that price, they'd probably put every company in the world that makes cell phones out of business.

[Dash-2]

Nothing is free, but it's nice to think about. $100 might as well be free though. At that price, they'd probably put every company in the world that makes cell phones out of business.

Good. Then maybe they will lower their prices too.
:D

[ferrarix]

Also I think, part of the software would be added to the price of the device just to make the software look cheaper.

[slashjunior]

Are Google actually releasing a phone? From what I understood they were just releasing Android which is just open source software that can be used on phones. Forgive me if I am wrong I have not really been following the whole gPhone thing too closely.

[Dash-2]

Are Google actually releasing a phone? From what I understood they were just releasing Android which is just open source software that can be used on phones. Forgive me if I am wrong I have not really been following the whole gPhone thing too closely.

That is exactly what happened.
Check out some of the videos in posts on these forums to get a feel for the "software" and to see the demo phones.

[pakkispower]

Cant wait till i get my hands on one of these and if they're really only gonna be $100 i'll get a couple atleast :D

[tntmorgan]

Yeah, but for $100 what are you going to get?

I would find it hard pressed to have some of the nice hardware that the iPhone does for $100.

My hardware spec list at least a 500 Mhz processor, the optical quality glass face on the iphone is spectacular, aluminum casing so awesome mods (like Knight Creations for iPhone are possible), GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, 20 GB memory, 3G compatible all on a miniusb port.

Some of the prelim work I've seen didn't have all those specs. I'm willing to pay another $4-600 for a good phone, but of course cheaper is always better.

[tntmorgan]

I forgot to say that HTC came out with a competitive model to the iPhone called the Touch Cruise (not officially released in the US) that has most of the above mentioned specs and it started around $700, but it didn't even include a 3.5" screen with optical quality glass and aluminum casing. If I could count on any company to utilize Android on a phone with GPS and touch UI, it would be HTC; I really like them as a company. They keep innovating and pushing the envelope of smartphones.

[suprmallet]

Yeah, but for $100 what are you going to get?

I would find it hard pressed to have some of the nice hardware that the iPhone does for $100.

My hardware spec list at least a 500 Mhz processor, the optical quality glass face on the iphone is spectacular, aluminum casing so awesome mods (like Knight Creations for iPhone are possible), GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, 20 GB memory, 3G compatible all on a miniusb port.

Some of the prelim work I've seen didn't have all those specs. I'm willing to pay another $4-600 for a good phone, but of course cheaper is always better.

Given that Google's business model is to license Android to hardware manufacturers, and all Gphones have to meet the minimum technical specs, I'd imagine that the range of Gphones will be determined by two things: 1. Build quality of the physical phone, and 2. Packaged software.

1. Since the hardware manufacturers can't skimp on the technical specs, the only thing they will have control over as far as cutting costs is the physical quality of the materials used in the phone. A $100 Gphone won't last you as long as a $600 one, presumably. However, if all you're looking to do is use the phone to mod, you may not be looking for a long term $600 investment. Since the OS is open source, all mods should be able to be openly shared once they've been created, meaning that just because the guy who made the mod did it on a $100 phone doesn't mean you can't access it on the high end model, and vice versa.

2. Google has limited anyone who licenses Android so that any applications they develop have to run on any Gphone. However, it's obvious that each manufacturer will offer their own applications that differentiate their phones from the competition's. I would imagine that a $100 Gphone will probably come with nothing but the basic OS and no extra bells or whistles, while a $600 one will be much more fully featured out of the box. For people who want to mod, the cheaper package may very well be preferable in that case. For those who want an all-in-one super advanced smart phone without worrying about actually adjusting their phone, the more expensive models would be the way to go.

So it wouldn't surprise me to see a wide range of phones, both cheap and expensive. But until the manufacturers really catch up with what Google is doing, we may end up with only one or two phones for a while. And if an introductory phone only costs $100, other vendors will be hard pressed to charge six times that amount when they release their own Gphone. Another interesting question will be to see if Apple drops the price of the iPhone if the Gphone comes out at such a low price.

[ppdogg626]

have anyone seen it

[flattop95]

they definetly won't give it out for free, they could make more money by selling it

[abc12345]

Why they charge free ? Not free but will be cheap