cash7c3
11-06-2007, 04:57 PM
Googles top secret GPhone mobile phone project is gaining popularity, even before a release date has been announced. Some analysts are even going as far as to speculate that it may surpass Apple's iPhone in popularity. How would it even hope to stand a chance at outdoing the most hyped mobile phone in history? Analysts say by going low cost and low tech.<!--break-->
According to Ovum analyst Steve Heartley, moving toward is a natural extension." Google has long been trying to get advertisers to sponsor Google search results on mobile devices just as they currently do for PCs. Currently, it commands 29% of the U.S. market, vs. second place Yahoo's (YHOO) 16%, according to eMarketer.
Announcements of the phone are driving investors wild. Google stock recently topped $600 a piece, and some analysts estimate that profit may be up as much as 50% from a year ago. Google will report their third-quarter results on Thursday.
One move tantalizing investors was Google's mysterious acquisition of the Finnish startup Jaiku, a holder of several key Short Message Service (SMS) patents. To further help in their push toward the mobile market, they also acquired the mobile network Zingku, and gained valuable expertise by participating in WebKit, an open-source browser development community. It has also expanded "Google SMS", a free service that sends answers to inquisitive texters.
While some believe that the activity is aimed at providing a mobile OS to compete with Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Richard Dogerty, research director at The Envisioneering Group, says that what Google really wants is to get current handsets equipped with a "Gbutton".
The hypothetical button would take a user right to a Google texting screen in an attempt to get users used to querying its vast databases for directions, phone numbers, movie times or restaurant tips. Then they would be ready to get advertisers to sponsor GPhone-delivered answers, according to Doherty.
Further more, Trip Chowdhry, analyst at Global Equities Research, thinks that Google has already begun designing an advanced GPhone model, complete with a Google browser designed to display Google services like Gmail and YouTube videos.
Aimed at a young demographic, the GPhone would most likely sell at but a fraction of the iPhone's hefty price tag, or that of the RIM BlackBerry, Palm Treo, or the average Windows Mobile smartphone, says Chowdhry.
So how much longer until this device reaches the hands of eager consumers? Allegedly, device makers have basic GPhone designs in hand ready to be produced. Once Google signs an agreement with a launch carrier, "GPhones could flow into the market in a matter of weeks," he says. The major hitch is that carriers are asking for a cut of the ad revenue.
via USA Today/Yahoo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20071015/tc_usatoday/googlesgphonestrategycouldkeepusercostslow)<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
According to Ovum analyst Steve Heartley, moving toward is a natural extension." Google has long been trying to get advertisers to sponsor Google search results on mobile devices just as they currently do for PCs. Currently, it commands 29% of the U.S. market, vs. second place Yahoo's (YHOO) 16%, according to eMarketer.
Announcements of the phone are driving investors wild. Google stock recently topped $600 a piece, and some analysts estimate that profit may be up as much as 50% from a year ago. Google will report their third-quarter results on Thursday.
One move tantalizing investors was Google's mysterious acquisition of the Finnish startup Jaiku, a holder of several key Short Message Service (SMS) patents. To further help in their push toward the mobile market, they also acquired the mobile network Zingku, and gained valuable expertise by participating in WebKit, an open-source browser development community. It has also expanded "Google SMS", a free service that sends answers to inquisitive texters.
While some believe that the activity is aimed at providing a mobile OS to compete with Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Richard Dogerty, research director at The Envisioneering Group, says that what Google really wants is to get current handsets equipped with a "Gbutton".
The hypothetical button would take a user right to a Google texting screen in an attempt to get users used to querying its vast databases for directions, phone numbers, movie times or restaurant tips. Then they would be ready to get advertisers to sponsor GPhone-delivered answers, according to Doherty.
Further more, Trip Chowdhry, analyst at Global Equities Research, thinks that Google has already begun designing an advanced GPhone model, complete with a Google browser designed to display Google services like Gmail and YouTube videos.
Aimed at a young demographic, the GPhone would most likely sell at but a fraction of the iPhone's hefty price tag, or that of the RIM BlackBerry, Palm Treo, or the average Windows Mobile smartphone, says Chowdhry.
So how much longer until this device reaches the hands of eager consumers? Allegedly, device makers have basic GPhone designs in hand ready to be produced. Once Google signs an agreement with a launch carrier, "GPhones could flow into the market in a matter of weeks," he says. The major hitch is that carriers are asking for a cut of the ad revenue.
via USA Today/Yahoo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20071015/tc_usatoday/googlesgphonestrategycouldkeepusercostslow)<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->