Updated Gphone Timeline & Let A Hundred Google Phones Bloom

The Google Phone rumors continue, whipping up a frenzy that some type of announcement about the Gphone is coming within days. It’ll be a phone! It’ll be an operating system! It’ll be bundled software! And everyone is showing various photos that no one has ever confirmed are pictures of an actual Gphone. Below, an updated […]

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The Google Phone rumors continue, whipping up a
frenzy that some type of
announcement about the Gphone is coming within days. It’ll be a phone! It’ll be an operating
system! It’ll be bundled software! And everyone is showing various photos that no one
has ever confirmed are pictures of an actual Gphone. Below, an updated timeline on all the
Google Phone rumors we’ve had over the past few years, along with some perspective on why you
are hearing so many conflicting things. Plus worry not, Apple fanboys, Google still
loves the iPhone.

First, the timeline. I lied — it’s not below. It’s here:
Gphone? The Google Phone
Timeline
. That’s an article I did back in April, and now I’ve fully updated it to
incorporate all the latest craziness. It made more sense to keep it all in one
place.

After you read the timeline, you’ll be confused. Don’t worry. Google’s a confused
company itself. It has multiple programs going on in general, so it’s no
surprise that there are various mobile phone / wireless projects in the works. We’ve seen
that they are bundling software on phones. We know they hired mobile phone
operating system developers, so releasing something like that wouldn’t be too
surprising. We know they want wireless bandwidth and are going after it in at
least two different ways, which will likely involve two different types of
devices. And they’re still working with the carriers, as well — through
multiyear deals that aren’t going to just disappear. And did I mention that free
WiFi thing they do in Mountain View?

Google’s covering all the bases through the usual Google way of being
both thorough as well as being out-of-touch within the company itself. Think a
big with-it company like Google couldn’t operate that way? Go ask those in charge of Google Sitemaps
for content submission how well they integrate with Google Base for, um, content
submission. They don’t. That’s just one example, and I’m not even trying.

But what about the iPhone! Aren’t Google and Apple buddies? Isn’t Eric
Schmidt on Apple’s board? How could Google launch an iPhone killer?

Hey, last week I was on stage interviewing Google vice president of search
products and user experience Marissa Mayer. She was whipping out her iPhone and
demoing cool stuff you can do with it to reach Google, as well as talking about
how iPhone usage seems to have helped spur Google search activity (FYI, Yahoo tells me
the same thing). It wasn’t just for public showing. Backstage, she was using the iPhone and talking about it as part of her everyday life.

Two months ago, I watched Eric Schmidt
show off his phone
that he clearly seemed to be using on a regular basis rather than trotting out as a demo to prop up
Steven Jobs’ little company. Both Eric and Marissa seemed to honestly like their
phones. I don’t think they’re going to suddenly dump them (or Apple) into the
trash can. But Google’s not foolish, either. Google’s not going to tie its
mobile future to a company that’s notorious for being very controlling of
exactly how its hardware operates. Neither will Google tie it up with one
particular carrier such as T-Mobile or Orange.

No, for Google, it’s going to be let a hundred phones bloom — and if
Google’s own Gphone catches on, even better.

Hey! Wake up! Don’t forget to checkout the
Gphone Timeline.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Danny Sullivan
Contributor
Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land and MarTech, and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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