What do you prefer: iPhone or Android?

Hey, Google is promoting their new mobile platform - Android.

Apple is coming out with their new chaper and greater iPhone 3G.

Many features, greate design and big companies are fighting each other to get the market.

A new article at iPhono called "Android vs. iPhone" will help you comparing these new devices and make your choice.

New Google Mobile feature lets you search without typing

Google added a new entry into their robots.txt file — one way you can keep tabs on what Google doesn’t want to see. The new entry that forbids crawlers from seeing http://www.google.com/m/lcb made me naturally curious.

The new feature, that from what I can tell is new, lets you browse through categories of businesses without you having to type a word on your mobile device. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what “lcb” means, but everything is broken down into categories — there is even one for “Googleplex”. Strange, and pretty useless if you don’t live in Mountain View California.



The feature works pretty well, but it would be even better if it could somehow figure out your exact location rather than simply the city. This way it could browse real businesses that are close to you rather than everything in the entire city. Maybe if you pass in some weird parameters with latitude and longitude it will do exactly that, but I can’t confirm that at the moment.

Since this feature probably isn’t “finished” yet, I’ll leave most judgment out of this article, but it is promising.

Via zdnet.com>.

Google Sees Surge in iPhone Traffic

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Of all the iPhone’s features, none had reviewers gushing more than its Internet browser. It was the first cellphone browser that promised something resembling the experience of surfing the Internet on a PC. Santa helped deliver on that promise.

On Christmas, traffic to Google from iPhones surged, surpassing incoming traffic from any other type of mobile device, according to internal Google data made available to The New York Times. A few days later, iPhone traffic to Google fell below that of devices powered by the Nokia-backed Symbian operating system but remained higher than traffic from any other type of cellphone.

The data is striking because the iPhone, an Apple product, accounts for just 2 percent of smartphones worldwide, according to IDC, a market research firm. Phones powered by Symbian make up 63 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, while those powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile have 11 percent and those running the BlackBerry system have 10 percent.

The iPhone has taken the frustration out of browsing on a mobile phone, said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company.

Other companies confirmed the trends, if not the specific data, observed by Google. Yahoo, for instance, said iPhones accounted for a disproportionate amount of its mobile traffic. And AdMob, a firm that shows billions of ads on mobile Web sites every month, said it saw traffic from iPhones surge drastically around Christmas.

“Consumers are going to demand Internet browsers” as good as Apple’s, said Vic Gundotra, a Google vice president who oversees mobile products.

Mr. Gundotra said Web browsers as capable as the iPhone’s could also prove a boon for developers of mobile software, who have long struggled to adapt their programs to different types of phones. As it does on the PC, he said, the browser could provide a more homogeneous “layer” for programmers.

“The reason no one considered this seriously is that the Web layer on mobile devices was terrible,” he said. Google has taken advantage of the capabilities of the iPhone browser to create a product, internally called Grand Prix, that it says provides easy access to many of the company’s services, including search, Gmail, Reader and Picasa.

Google, which developed the first version of Grand Prix in six weeks, is introducing a new version on Monday, just six weeks after the first one. That is a speed of development not previously possible on mobile phones, he said.

John Markoff contributed reporting from San Francisco.

Google Phone In Spring 2008?

Google, apparently has taken substantial amount of floor space at the upcoming Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, leading some to speculate that the company might actually be ready to launch its Android based phones

While there is certainly an outside chance of the Google Phone launch, the more realistic and plausible scenario will be Google showing off a few prototype handsets. HTC, is the only handset maker that has publicly said that a device will be available in late 2008.

So why the big presence in Barcelona? Well Google has to win the hearts and minds of the mobile world, find partners and show the seriousness of its mobile efforts.

Via GigaOm

Verizon Embraces Google's Android

In yet another sudden shift, Verizon Wireless plans to support Google's (GOOG) new software platform for cell phones and other mobile devices. Verizon Wireless had been one of several large cellular carriers withholding support from the Android initiative Google launched in early November.

But given the stunning U-turn Verizon Wireless made Nov. 27, announcing plans to allow a broader range of devices and services on its network, Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam says it now makes sense to get behind Android. "We're planning on using Android," McAdam tells BusinessWeek. "Android is an enabler of what we do."

McAdam's Open-Access Campaign

Though skeptics see ulterior motives and question just how easy Verizon will make it for rival products to get on its network, the surprise embrace of an open-access model and of the Android software culminates a dramatic yearlong evolution in the company's thinking. The effort, championed by McAdam, involved meetings with the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and late-night bull sessions with the top two executives at Verizon Communications (VZ), which owns Verizon Wireless in partnership with Vodafone (VOD).

All the while, McAdam kept focus by carrying a crumpled piece of paper in his pocket with seven bullet points defining what an open-access policy would mean to Verizon Wireless. "The paper is all wrinkled and it's got coffee stains," he says.

McAdam was more amenable to shifting gears thanks to time spent during the 1990s in Europe and Asia, where the wireless industry is more of a free-for-all. As vice-president for international operations at AirTouch Communications, now a part of Verizon Wireless, McAdam says he was impressed that European and Asian mobile carriers backed technologies that allow subscribers to switch to rivals with ease.

By contrast, Verizon Wireless has created the most profitable U.S. cellular business by tightly restricting the devices and applications allowed to run on its network. But over the past year, the company's leadership came to conclude that it was time for a radical shift. Such a move, they reckoned, might help Verizon Wireless keep growing while holding down costs.

Combating Market Saturation

When Verizon Wireless was founded in 2000, it ran 27 call centers to provide customer service. The company cut back to as few as 17 centers at one point, but the count is now back to 25, each with about a thousand employees. The company's 2,300 stores, staffed by 20,000 employees, are also costly. While workers in those stores used to spend nearly the entire day signing up new customers, now only a tenth of their time is consumed by new subscribers. Instead, the bulk of their energy goes to helping current subscribers with questions and problems. McAdam & Co. decided the business model was not sustainable. "If we get to 150 million customers, boy, that's a lot of overhead," says McAdam.

In an open-access model, though, Verizon Wireless won't offer the same level of customer service as it does for the roughly 50 phone models featured in its handset lineup. Though the company will insist on testing all phones developed to run on its network in the open-access program, Verizon plans only to ensure the wireless connection is working for customers who buy those devices. "They have to talk to their handset provider or their application provider if they have particular issues," McAdam says.

What's more, the open-access approach may enable Verizon to tap into niche markets that haven't been worth targeting. Verizon Wireless subsidizes the cost of all the handsets it sells directly to customers. Thanks to the costly process of developing phones with the likes of Samsung and LG, then testing each for hundreds of factors such as how hot the screen gets, only devices with mass appeal get the nod. "I can't go to 100" handsets in the lineup, says McAdam. "If a particular product can't generate 100,000 [purchases], it's not worth doing."

But with "outside" devices developed under Verizon's new policy, handset makers will bear most of the development costs. And because users won't be buying such devices from Verizon, the company won't be subsidizing those purchases. As a result, Verizon's network may come to support hundreds of devices, many customized for non-mass-market needs the company doesn't serve. "This allows them to add customers onto their network without having to spend as much to get them," says Todd Rosenbluth, an industry analyst for Standard & Poor's (which, like BusinessWeek, is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP)).

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Google updates Mobile Maps service to include your location

Google announced the release of version 2 of its Google Maps application for mobile phones. New in v2.0 is a beta version of Google's "My Location" technology, which uses cell tower ID information to provide users with their approximate location, helping them determine where they are, what's around them, and how to get there.

Location information makes mobile mapping and search faster and more convenient, but the most common source of location information to date -- GPS technology -- is supported on fewer than 15 percent of the mobile phones expected to be sold in 2007. With Google's new My Location technology, users who don't have GPS-enabled mobile phones will now be able to take advantage of the added speed and convenience afforded by location information. The My Location technology also complements GPS-enabled devices, as it delivers a location estimate faster than GPS, provides coverage inside buildings (where GPS signals can be unreliable), and doesn't drain phone batteries as quickly as GPS.

The My Location technology takes information broadcast from cell towers and sifts it through Google-developed algorithms to approximate a user's current location on the map. This approximation is anonymous, as Google does not gather any personally identifiable information or associate any location data with personally identifiable information as part of the My Location feature. The feature can also be easily disabled by anyone who prefers not to use it.

Phones with a GPS facility will display the location as a small blue dot on the screen. Where cell-id is used, then a larger pale blue zone is highlighted which shows the approximate coverage area of that cellsite.

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Google closer to mobile airwaves bid, sources say

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. is considering bidding alone on coveted airwaves to launch a U.S. wireless network, as a deadline nears to declare bidding plans, sources familiar with the situation said.

One source underscored that Google had made no decision as of Friday on whether it would bid with partners or on its own in the auction of 700-megahertz spectrum due to begin Jan. 24.

Bidding could pit Google against top wireless carriers AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, owned jointly by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc.

Going it alone at the government auction of airwaves would not rule out later signing up partners if Google were to win the necessary spectrum to create a network, the source said.

Google executives discussed the auction last week with Federal Communications Commission officials, including FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, sources familiar with the meeting said.

At the talks, executives for the Web search leader gave the impression of “inching more towards” a bid, one source said.

Another said it is “within the realm of possibility” that partners could be brought on later if Google wins. Google has talked to a number of prospective partners, not just carriers.

Google is “making all the necessary preparations to become an applicant to bid in the auction” ahead of a Dec. 3 deadline for applying to participate, a spokesman said in a statement.

“From the company's perspective, the overriding factor is how to foster more openness in networks. That is certainly the driving factor in our thinking about bidding on the spectrum.”

The 700-MHz band airwaves, which are being returned by broadcasters as they move from analog to digital signals early in 2009, can go long distances and penetrate thick walls. The auction is seen as a last chance for a new wireless player.

Google is considering funding a bid not only from its growing cash pile but by working with Wall Street. Outside financing would reduce its need for partners, one source said.

Google has said it would be prepared to bid at least $4.6 billion for the biggest chunk of spectrum if regulators agreed to policies to promote open use of such networks.

Google won half of what it asked: The FCC imposed a condition on a large portion of the spectrum that would require the winning bidder to open up networks to allow consumers to use any device or applications that works on those frequencies.

But the FCC did not require open access to network capacity to be resold to independent mobile service providers on a wholesale basis, another Google request.

Under the auction terms, if no one meets the $4.6 billion minimum bid, the auction for the open-access portion of the spectrum would be rerun without the open-access conditions.

One strategy Google is considering is to bid on a chunk of airwaves known as “D Block” that would be shared with public safety providers, as well as the more flexible, open-access piece of “C Block” spectrum.

One source said Google has met with Cyren Call, a company charged with managing public safety agency use of spectrum.

Google unveiled this month plans to offer software for building Internet-ready cell phones in an alliance of network operators and device and software makers. The first phones to result from it are due out in mid-2008, partners say.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin said Google is likely to apply to participate in the FCC auction and pay a required deposit later in December. Such moves would not guarantee it will submit a bid, but Levin thinks the company will do so.

Even if Google does bid, Levin said, it may not be designed to actually win the auction, but rather to make sure the FCC's minimum is met and the open-access provision stays in place.

John Hodulik, telecoms analyst with brokerage UBS in New York, said Google's entry into the highly competitive market will hurt the four big incumbents: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel Corp and Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA.

But it could also prove painful for Google. He estimated it would cost an $8 billion to $10 billion more to build another nationwide wireless network, not to mention heavy capital spending to keep up with constant evolutions in the market.

Hodulik said such cost considerations could hugely depress Google's highly valued stock, which trades about 33 times what analysts, on average, expect it to earn next year. Google shares closed on Friday up $3.98, or 0.6 per cent, at $633.63.

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Google Maps Mobile updates

Google Maps has added some new ways for you to find your way using your mobile device. You’ve now got contacts integration and GPS functionality on Windows Mobile, for version 2003 or higher (download it here). There’s also GPS-Enabled Google Maps for the rest of us to use, as well as an optimized version for your Treo and your Blackberry (found here as well).



And some stuff that’s been rolled out on the web version of Google Maps and Earth that’s now available on its mobile implementation: real-time traffic conditions, favorite places and routes, and additional details for businesses marked on your maps. Google’s working so hard to keep the updates going for various handsets. Will it lose some of these options if it rolls out its own mobile network?

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The 1st Google Android Phone video, by Sergey Brin founder

The official and original version of the Google Android Phone, presented by Google founder, Sergey Brin



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Apple vs. Google in open source mobility

So the battle is joined (sort of).

In this corner we have Google, the challenger, with its open source hardware specification for a mobile platform.

And in this corner we have Apple, the champion, with real hardware, and a software development kit, but an iffy record in supporting open source.

Who will win? Will either?

Open Handset Alliance logoAt this point my money is on Apple. Real hardware beats imaginary hardware every time in my book. (I can’t use that thing to the left.)

Google, and its partners, need to get their orders into China or, preferably, Taiwan (the turnaround is faster there) right now. Only upon delivery can the competition really start.

What history tells me is to bet on Google. In many ways it is replicating the strategy Microsoft used over 20 years ago to take the PC market from Apple’s Macintosh.

This was not due to some genius on Bill Gates’ part, as some Microsoft acolytes may claim. It was due to the fact he let anyone sell DOS, and promised everyone they would get Windows, while Apple kept its secrets proprietary.

I was younger then, and time moved more slowly for me, so I remember it well. Comdexes came and went, Apple’s coterie of fans grew as fast as Apple could make Macs and they could find cash to buy them, while Microsoft spread promises.

I was there when Microsoft finally delivered Windows 1.0, at a 1986 Comdex roast hosted by John Dvorak himself. Gates hand-signed a copy for me. I keep it on a shelf here at home.

But that software did not do the job, and neither did its successor. It was not until several years later, with Windows 3.0, that Microsoft finally had something that met some of its promises.

Yet despite being behind by over a half-decade, Microsoft kept its market share. Why? Because it had what might later be called an open source strategy. It let anyone license its software, on easy terms, and everyone did. While Apple kept its Macintosh technology strictly proprietary.

There are indications, with the release of the SDK, that Steve Jobs may have learned this lesson. Besides, China can now supply whatever quantities of iPhones the market demands, and cheap. He doesn’t have to make them all himself. He doesn’t really have to charge a premium price for them.

So will Google Microsoft Apple, or will Apple bite back?

Who will win the open source mobility wars?

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Google’s Grand Mobile Ambitions

The Wall Street Journal’s report about Google’s big mobile plans is one that covers all bases, and leaves you where you started from: scratching your head. The Journal says Google may or may not buy a carrier; invest in a carrier; partner with a carrier, and/or may bid for spectrum. Aka, anything is possible. Most of this speculation has been already done the rounds. One new thing WSJ reports that is of interest:

Google, meanwhile, already is running a test version of an advanced wireless network at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, gaining operating experience that could come in handy if it wins the spectrum and decides to run a full-scale national mobile carrier, according to people familiar with the matter.

They are using this network, under license from FCC, to test prototype devices that use Android mobile OS. That network is interesting for sure, but to go from a tiny network to owning-and-operating a humongous nationwide consumer-centric wireless network needs a big leap of faith,especially for Google investors. But then last week, A-Fraud returning to Yankee Stadium was as likely as waking up to armageddon.

Other notable facts from the WSJ story:

* Google has invested in femtocell maker Ubiquisys
* Google has discussed possibly investing in Clearwire Corp.

So what do you think: will Google buy a carrier, bid for spectrum or do nothing?



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5 Open Questions About the Google Phone aka Android

OK, so the Google Phone is not really a phone, but instead a software stack that allows people to do cool things such as build applications and power devices that have never before been imagined. Yes, it also cleans dorm rooms and finds dates. Following the press conference call, however, here are five points about Android that remain… unclear.

1. Google (GOOG) says it’s open source, letting you download it and do whatever — except that carriers can create their own locked-down versions of the software with Android. That doesn’t seem very open to me.
2. Google says it is happy to share revenues from advertising with the carriers. Which is good news for the carriers, but if you are a Google shareholder, you want to know how much is going to be kicked back to the carriers, and if this will have a material impact on Google’s financials.
3. The first Android device won’t hit the market till the second half of 2008, and that, too, from one handset maker, HTC. Now as a developer, why would you opt for this platform when you have other options? (Apparently the browser inside the device will support desktop browser-compatible apps, which is a good thing.)
4. None of the handset partners are betting the farm on Android, but are instead hedging their bets. HTC will continue to do Windows Mobile (MSFT), an OS that makes them a lot of money. (A little arm-twisting from Redmond can go a long way). Motorola (MOT), on the other hand, is a founding member of LiMo Foundation, a rival group that has the backing of carriers looking to Linux Mobile as an OS option. So which effort are they going to put their resources towards?
5. With the exception of admitting that it is Linux-based and can work with Qwerty, non-Qwerty and different types of screen sizes, no real details are available on the tech specs of Android. For that we’ll have to wait. Andy Rubin did point out that it will need a 200-MHz ARM processor at the very least, so for some time it is going to be a smartphone-focused OS environment.

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First Googlephone App Finds You Late Night Beer, Etc (Screenshots)

Remember WhatsOpen.com, the stealth search startup that piqued Google cofounder Sergey Brin's interest last month? Brin was so intrigued he told the founders to keep the company hush-hush. Now, however, a source has leaked screenshots of WhatsOpen's secret project. The company has a Web application which shows users nearby stores and their operating hours -- "what's open." But I'm told by a source that WhatsOpen has also written the first wireless app for Google's new Android operating system. (You may know Android better as the software behind the still-mythical Googlephone.) Demo screenshots after the jump.

Exclusive screenshots of first Googlephone app:



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LiMo (Linux for Mobiles) is Ready to Go Prime Time

Now that the Google Phone platform has been unveiled, one thing is abundantly clear: Happy days are around the corner for Mobile Linux.

As we have already reported, a special version of the Linux operating system forms the underpinning of Google Mobile OS, which will run the Google (GOOG) devices expected to hit the market sometime next year. That isn’t the only Mobile Linux OS flavor, however; over the next few months a cornucopia of devices powered by Mobile Linux are going to come to market.

ABI Research predicts that Mobile Linux will be the fastest growing smartphone OS over the next five years and that Linux-based smartphones will account for about 31 percent of such devices by 2012. Smartphone shipments during this period are expected to total 331 million, according to the market research firm. The impetus for such rosy forecasts for Mobile Linux comes from the carriers, who are looking to standardize on three platforms: Symbian, Windows Mobile and Mobile Linux.

Who’s Afraid Of Apple & Google? Not Symbian

We have been following the Mobile Linux market closely, writing about Motorola’s (MOT) efforts in China, OpenMoko, andTrolltech and its Qtopia platform. In a similar vein, we believe the Mobile Linux efforts of the LiMo Foundation will provide a major boost to the fledgling mobile operating system.

LiMo is an independent, not-for-profit entity formed back in January by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo (DCM), Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone (VOD). LiMo is developing a Linux-based software platform for mobile devices that has the blessing of two large carriers — Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo — and top-tier mobile handset makers such as Motorola, Samsung, LG, as well as several Japanese manufacturers. Motorola and Samsung kicked off the project by contributing to it their Mobile Linux-related intellectual property.

“We expect the first LiMo handset to come to the market in the first quarter of 2008, perhaps sooner,” Morgan Gillis, the head of LiMo, told me in a casual conversation last week. When I argued that the previous consortium efforts in the mobile industry haven’t been that successful, Gillis pointed out that the platform is not a technical standard, but rather a common OS platform that is being foisted upon the handset makers by carriers. “The value proposition here is that if you are a handset maker, then you get an entire software stack, and it meets the specs of major operators,” he said.

Vodafone, one of the largest mobile phone companies in the world, is pushing particularly hard for standardization, primarily because the company is interested in deploying applications quickly without having to test them on different handsets, a slow and laborious process. SK Telecom and Orange are also looking to follow the same strategy. The standardized platform strategy was first used by NTT DoCoMo in 2002, and it allowed the Japanese giant to roll out apps in a precise manner at a rapid clip.

Handset makers themselves are interested in taking the cost of maintaining different operating systems out of the equation. The reason, Gillis explained, is Apple (AAPL) iPhone. “There is general recognition that the value is now in the user experience, not the OS. Apple has demonstrated that with its device,” he said. “Handset makers now have to invest in the UI, not the underlying technology.”

Google, with its smartphone, will further change the user experience — and that is the point. Google’s mobile efforts are focused on interjecting itself between the carrier and the cell phone user and making money off mobile advertising. This model puts the search giant in conflict with the carriers, who are giving mobile advertising and other mobile services lustful glances. LiMo-based phones could help carriers at the expense of the Google Phone, but all that jockeying will come later. Meanwhile, let’s sit back and watch Mobile Linux have its day in the sun.

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Where's my Gphone?

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.

Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications -- all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities.

We see Android as an important part of our strategy of furthering Google's goal of providing access to information to users wherever they are. We recognize that many among the multitude of mobile users around the world do not and may never have an Android-based phone. Our goals must be independent of device or even platform. For this reason, Android will complement, but not replace, our longstanding mobile strategy of developing useful and compelling mobile services and driving adoption of these products through partnerships with handset manufacturers and mobile operators around the world.

It's important to recognize that the Open Handset Alliance and Android have the potential to be major changes from the status quo -- one which will take patience and much investment by the various players before you'll see the first benefits. But we feel the potential gains for mobile customers around the world are worth the effort. If you’re a developer and this approach sounds exciting, give us a week or so and we’ll have an SDK available. If you’re a mobile user, you’ll have to wait a little longer, but some of our partners are targeting the second half of 2008 to ship phones based on the Android platform. And if you already have a phone you know and love, check out mobile.google.com and make sure you have Google Maps for mobile, Gmail and our other great applications on your phone. We'll continue to make these services better and add plenty of exciting new features, applications and services, too.

What would your phone do?



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Google phone plans to be announced Monday

The long-awaited announcement of Google's phone plans will occur earlier than expected, and not in the form previously laid out, says the Wall Street Journal. While it had been suggested that an announcement would come November 13th at the earliest, the Journal's sources say that it will mostly likely happen Monday, November 5th, and with different carriers. T-Mobile is still involved, but the other main party is said to be Sprint. Foreign carriers may be included, but have not been mentioned.

Google is again said to be working with cellular networks and phone makers to promote an "open" application platform, courting companies such as HTC, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. With T-Mobile Google is claimed to be going even further, cooperating directly on building phones using its software. When the efforts of any of these collaborations might bear fruit remains unknown, but Journal proposes that the earliest date for sale of a Google-ready phone would be mid-2008.

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The Google Phone: The Story So Far and What's Next

The Wall Street Journal has been reporting on Google’s mobile phone efforts and how it is beginning to draw some interest from carriers, especially in the United States. Sprint (S) and Verizon (VZ) are in talks with Google (GOOG), according to the Journal, and an announcement by the company is expected sometime in November. Here is what I have been able to gather from my sources:

* An announcement will likely be made Nov. 13th or Nov. 18th.
* Handset makers will use a Google Mobile OS platform.
* Google Mobile OS uses a highly optimized Mobile Linux; developers will be able to use a Java Development Kit. Google is said to have developed a highly optimized Java running on top of the OS. (Read our previous post, Five Facts about Google Phone.)
* Most major handset makers, with the exception of Nokia (NOK), have devices with Google Mobile OS under development; Samsung and Motorola (MOT) are being linked to it as well. (as are HTC and LG Electronics, according to the Journal.)
* The operators who are likely to be part of the big announcement will be T-Mobile’s USA division and Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest cellular carriers.

The increased interest on the part of mobile carriers is summed up best by Hamid Akhavan, CEO of T-Mobile International and CTO of Deutsche Telecom (DT). In a chat with Russell Reynolds Associates he said:

These companies have recognized that it is not an easy game to penetrate the wireless market without the help of the operators, which has led to collaborative relationships…The biggest challenge is to adapt our market perspective and business model to one based on partnerships, content and applications. Historically, wireless carriers had a relatively simple business model — end-to-end voice service — with correspondingly simple billing. That is no longer the case.

Carriers are grappling with this question, and this business model conflict is something that needs to be resolved quickly by Google. Akhavan points out…

When AT&T and Apple partner on the iPhone or T-Mobile partners with Google on mobile advertising, these new arrangements force the question: “Who pays whom and when?” Billing, payment and content management for broadcast, advertising, search and music all are significantly different. Carriers are having to develop new business models that are compatible with the changing business models of the other key players in the ecosystem. The business models have to be as interoperable as the technologies.

After talking extensively to the mobile industry insiders, I believe Google Mobile OS is going to become part of the new mobile ecosystem. More on that later tonight, once I get a chance to sit and write.

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It’s time we hear from Google about its mobile phone plans

We’ve been waiting a long time to hear from Google about its mobile plans and the so-called Gphone or Google-powered phones. According to one report, that wait may be over soon.

The Wall Street Journal today said Google is expected to announce within the next two weeks advanced software and services that would allow handset makers to bring Google-powered phones to market by next summer. Google’s goal is to make applications and services as accessible on cellphones as they are on the Internet.

To compliment the WSJ’s story, Reuters noted that Google is in active talks with Verizon, the No. 2 carrier in the U.S., about putting Google applications on phones it offers.



And in early October, The New York Times posited that the Google phone may not be a phone at all but a mobile operating system.

Google Phone concepts

Obviously speculation abounds, which the tech community thrives on. The WSJ believes that Google-powered phones will wrap together several Google applications like the search engine, Google Maps, YouTube, and Gmail — no surprise there. It makes sense.

The WSJ says the “most radical element” of Google’s plan is its push to make software for the phone(s) open “right down to the operating system” — again, no surprise. It makes sense.

If the Google phones are “open”, independent software developers would gain access to the tools they need to build additional phone features, something that Nokia is already experimenting with. Apple will also be opening up, to some degree at least, early next year.

Of course all of this — and what’s been written the past two months — is speculation. It’s time we hear from Google.

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Optimized Google Maps For Symbian

Google has integrated its Google Maps using Symbian C++, which means if you are using a Symbian smartphone, the Google Maps service will be significantly enhanced. Google Maps is the premier free map service. Now that is native to Symbian smartphones, there are several things users can expect: maps with step-by-step directions, search results for local locations are integrated in the maps, birds eye view from a satellite.



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Gmail client for mobile phones works with Windows Mobile phones PERFECTLY

No matter what Windows Mobile phone you own, Pocket PC or smartphone, whatever brand, you can be certain that recently released Gmail for mobile phones works with it! We tested it (see images below), it works very well and we hereby show you how to get Gmail working in your Windows Mobile phone.

Here is how it looks like, where you can see that you can receive emails:



... and send them:



... and actually do everything in your Gmail account - very quickly and effectively.

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