Google may jump into mobile phone game

Google Inc., owner of the most-popular Internet search engine, may introduce software to run mobile phones within the next eight weeks to promote its e-mail and mapping services, an analyst said.

The operating system would allow the company to partner with a mobile-phone manufacturer, Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster wrote in a report today. He said he isn't expecting Google to build a handset or create a Google-branded phone.

"There has been increasing chatter surrounding the launch of a Google phone, dubbed the 'Gphone,"' the Minneapolis-based analyst wrote. He has an "outperform" rating on the stock. "We believe the rumors are partially true."

from bloomberg news

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Nokia N-Gage Games Service is official! Let the games beginn ;-)

As part of their press event today in London, Nokia officially announced their new N-Gage games service.

"As we expand our focus from a dedicated game phone to a gaming service, we are making getting and playing games even easier," said Jaakko Kaidesoja, head of the games business at Nokia. "The N-Gage service combined with powerful devices, world class titles and brands, and interactive social networking features, takes the mobile gaming experience beyond traditional boundaries."
The support for N-Gage continues to grow with EA SPORTS(TM) FIFA 08, The Sims(TM) 2 Pets, Tetris®, and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® being developed for the platform as well as new publishers Capcom and Vivendi, and its famed Crash Bandicoot®, on board. Nokia Publishing also announced new titles: Snakes Subsonic and Bounce Boing Voyage.

The N-Gage service will be available globally in November 2007.
See also the N-Gage site.

Long-standing rumors about Google Phone

Long-standing rumors that Google will follow Apple with a mobile device of its own are heating up this week. On Monday, blogger Mark Hopkins posted that a Google employee confirmed to him that the company is indeed developing a cell phone.
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Hopkins' source, whom Hopkins said is an "implicitly" trustworthy insider, told him, "the Google (applications) Suite is going to play a huge role in the usability of the GPhone, and the thought process behind it's (sic) functionality is less about beating the iPhone and more about beating the $100 Laptop."

Read more about this at blogazine!

More phones in the lurking?

Communication is the core. Any product around it is big money. Deep pockets, a skilled design team and a “killer app” and perhaps a phone is not all that a bad idea. Consider this, there was another rumor rife at the Leipzig Games Convention that Sony Ericsson was planning a PlayStation based phone (PocketGamer) somewhere down the line.

With online advertising as the mainstay of its success, Google has a lot of options to play with to determining the price of the Gphone. Many feel that it will cost lesser than the iPhone, with perhaps similar features.

What often intrigues me is how the traditional mobile phone heavy weights are not at the center of these innovation flux. Did they never see these coming, a whole industry becoming a fundamental base for add on apps? As for a user, its indeed a rollicking time to own a phone. So with the limited speculation that is out there, would a GPhone interest you?