Rumormongers Tire Of iPhone, Move On To Googlephone

from the try-again dept

The iPhone got announced today -- only it's a boring VoIP phone from Linksys, not the super-duper version from Apple. While the fanboys may be in a mild tizzy, the move highlights that any Apple "iPhone" probably won't be called the iPhone, since Linksys and its parent Cisco control that trademark. Anyhow, the cutting-edge rumormongers left the Apple phone behind this weekend, preferring instead to speculate on the Googlephone, following a poorly sourced article from a UK paper saying that Google had held talks with the operator Orange about jointly creating a cobranded mobile phone, to be produced by Taiwanese contract manufacturer HTC. If anything, what happened here was more likely to be Orange reaching out to Google in an attempt to secure its brand and the attendant cachet, not the other way around. The article's anonymous source says that Google wants to learn all about mobile from Orange -- which is slightly amusing given that Orange and other operators tend to embody the exact opposite of Google when it comes to satisfying and delighting users. Google should be the ones teaching mobile operators things, rather than the operators teaching Google how to overcharge your customers and limit the things they can do with their mobile devices. Furthermore, though, a Google phone doesn't make a lot of sense, given that the company is already working with a number of mobile operators around the world to deploy its services, and also because it's got far more to gain by finding solutions that are inclusive, and can attract the biggest possible audience, rather than exclusive ones dependent on users buying a particular phone or service from a particular operator. But maybe, just maybe, Google is planning this non-existent phone to go along with all that wireless spectrum it didn't buy earlier this year.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Republican Gun, 18 Dec 2006 @ 11:43am

    Sun Tzu Said

    "Google should be the ones teaching mobile operators things, rather than the operators teaching Google "

    Sun Tzu said, “Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.”

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    misanthropic humanist, 18 Dec 2006 @ 11:46am

    loftier goals

    With Google parnering with NASA I think they will soon have their own GoogleSat network.

    Expect in 2007-10:

    Google Earth "live" - realtime sat imagery
    GoogleSat broadband uplinks

    I kind of think the terrestrial phone business is something beneath them already :)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Koresho, 18 Dec 2006 @ 1:47pm

    No reason

    Why would Google move into the cell phone market? They aren't the first company to think that they can just waltz in and take a peice of the turf, as ESPN found out to it's dismay. Google will be quite happy to stay as just a search engine that users use to search from their phones.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Paul, 18 Dec 2006 @ 2:32pm

    google and nasa

    http://www.googlenasa.com/

    looks like their website is off to a good start lol

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.