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The web world is eagerly anticipating Google’s new cellular phone, but no one can quite agree on what exactly the internet juggernaut has in the works. Many of the articles written on the subject are full of wild speculation, unsubstantiated rumors, and hopeful daydreaming. Indeed, the positivity of bloggers will likely turn any potential Google phone into an instant success even greater than the iPhone. I will attempt to lasso all the rumors that are true, while still giving air to some of the anticipated feats of which Google is fully capable.

First, it appears that Google may cross over into the hardware industry. Several credible sources have reported that there will be a proprietary Google handset which will work with any wireless provider (unlike Apple’s iPhone, which was designed to be used exclusively on AT&T’s network). Google has a partnership with Samsung, and they have bundled phones with Google’s applications in the past. BusinessWeek reports that Google has been secretly showing off prototype phones to consultants for a few months, and leaked photos (possibly fake) show a touchscreen interface.

Google will also likely use wireless tracking technology to improve your search results when using Google’s applications. For example, if you were traveling to Boston and did a search for “duck”, your phone would spit back local results for the famous duck tours, rather than, say, a Wikipedia entry on aquatic birds. The application will likely include Google Maps, Docs, News, Gmail, etc.

Something that seems very likely is that Google’s services will have ad-based revenue and be offered at a fraction of current wireless plans rates from major carriers. Google recently announced the release of AdSense for Mobile, which displays ads relevant to the mobile users. The same technology that is used to improve search results will likely also track demographics and user locations and display ads accordingly. Major carriers are not likely to give up their draconian service fees, so Google stands a good chance of competing, even though advertising is fairly new on mobile networks.

The last piece of the puzzle is an auction to sell the old analog UHF spectrum, which will be taking place in January 2008. Google has reportedly offered to meet the $4.6 billion dollar minimum bid, and if they win the auction they could decide to become a wireless carrier in their own right. Using an ad-based revenue system with free monthly service could potentially put the current carriers out of business, as they have all spent billions building their networks. Though no one likes the idea of watching an ad before logging on to a wireless device, offering free service in exchange creates a huge incentive. At least the ads will be carefully selected to appeal to your profile. Google has also recently expanded its ad services to the television market, “running a trial to deliver better ads to viewers and help advertisers, operators and programmers more efficiently buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television.” (Google Press Center). Ads could be selected based on the programming you watch. Experts expect that Google’s powerful search capabilities will soon be available on your TV as well. For example, you might see a commercial for Dunkin Donuts, click a button on your remote, and see a Google map of all the locations near you. The speculation suggests that rather than creating programming of their own, Google is more likely to enter the TV market by doing what they do best: selling relevant ads.

It’s all a part of Google’s larger goal of bringing a seamless internet experience to users no matter what device they’re using to go online. It will be fascinating to see how this all plays out. In the meantime, we’ll keep watching the rumor mill turn around and around.

Friday, October 19th, 2007 Both comments and pings are currently closed.

By Haley January Eckels