The whole mobile world’s been set alight over the last couple of days, as a flurry of rumours have hit the web, about a new Android phone that’s rumoured to be coming soon. Only this isn’t just any Android phone, no sir. This is the phone that’s been rumoured to be Google’s own phone, their own-branded superphone.
In other words, according to the rumours that have popped up, as summarised by Engadget Mobile, this is THE Google Phone…
The first notable thing about the latest rumours is that this appears to be a very high spec phone, with Snapdragon processor, 5MP camera and a 3.7 inch AMOLED screen. That means it’s got the same specs as the HTC Bravo, a new hyper-powered Android beastie I did a blog post about last week.
The second notable thing is that Google employees, apparently, have this phone in their hands already. That comes direct from Google employees, twittering that they have the “new Google phone”, and posting pics showing the phone, taken by the phone. It even has a name, the NexusOne (ooh, Blade Runner reference)!
But, of course, the question is… is this really the Google Phone? Are Google really going to change their entire mobile strategy from a Microsoft-esque strategy (one platform, on multiple phones), to a sort of mix between Microsoft and Apple (one platform across many devices, but with their own, tightly controlled device)? Well, in the evidence for that idea, it’s worth noting that despite being made by HTC, there’s no HTC branding on the NexusOne. It’s also worth noting that the paperwork in the box has a link to google.com/phone/support (which doesn’t currently have anything on it), and if there was to be a Google Phone, that’d surely be the support page for it.
However, consider the evidence against. If Google were to release their own phone, imagine how other Android partners would react. There are a load of really rather nice Android phones out there, like the Motorola DEXT, and just imagine the effect Google releasing their own phone would have on the Open Handset Alliance, and that would, I suspect, really hack off everybody else in the world who makes Android phones.
Let’s not forget, as well, that there have been previous “Google Phones”, the Dev Phone 1 and the Ion, but they weren’t general release phone. No, they were developer handsets, given out within Google, and sold to developers, as a platform to be able to test apps etc. There hasn’t been a dev phone since those, and compared to the specs on modern phones like the Motorola Milestone, they’re looking a bit long in the tooth. Combine that with the fact the NexusOne is identical in spec to the HTC Bravo, and my guess would be that it’s a more modern dev phone, a more modern-spec’d phone for developers (and Google themselves) to work with.
There also seems to be dissent around the blogosphere, with many saying this isn’t actually a Google Phone, and the most interesting source is on the pages of IntoMobile, where they’re reporting that none other than Eldar Murtazin (and this is the man who has his ear to the ground constantly, so when he talks, it’s worth listening) says that the rumours about Google releasing their own ‘Gphone’ are complete and utter bunkum. Not only that, he goes on to say that the rumours were spread by someone else. More specifically, he said they were spread by none other than Apple, who are trying to steal a march on Motorola’s top-end Android beasties (which already seem to be hitting the iPhone hard).
Ooh, the plot thickens.
Anyway, whatever happens, I’m sure we’ll find out in the fullness of time. My opinion? This isn’t the actual Google Phone, and I still don’t think Google will ever release their own phone…
More news as it happens! And be sure to subscribe now to get all the latest action from the world of mobile phones!