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Gphone OS, a mobile industry shakeout in the works?
By David | November 1, 2007
As previously reported by rumors, Google was indeed working on a Gphone. But unlike what was expected, it won’t be a phone. It will be an Operating System running on top of a Linux shell for mobile terminals.
According to GigaOM, an official announcement should be made towards mid-November. So what does it mean for the industry, for Google and for consumers? First of all, expect many handset manufacturers to start shipping Gphone enabled terminals by mid-2008. Nokia and the Symbian consortium folks (including Sony Ericsson) will certainly pass the opportunity, although I believe it might be a big strategic mistake. My gut feeling about what people will find integrated in the Gphone OS is naturally the full suite of Google tools, starting from localized search through Google Maps, Gmail, Google Apps (that will most certainly include push email and over-the-air sync of address books and calendars), social network elements through the OpenSocial initiative Google is launching, tight integration with on-device embedded GPS systems and subtle ways to deliver targeted advertising at each step of the way.
So what does this change in the industry? For Google, mobile will become the most efficient and profitable media to deliver context and location based advertising in the long run. For Microsoft, it’s a nightmare scenario. Windows Mobile 6 is by far one of the worst mobile OS I’ve tried in terms of user experience, only 20 million Windows Mobile devices were sold since they launched their OS a couple of years ago (compared to 1 million iPhones in the first weeks). Moreover Gphone OS will for sure provide over-the-air sync and support for Google Apps, the Microsoft Exchange/Office/Blackberry long-term killer. For developers it’s a real new opportunity to launch innovative apps on mobile at a time where mobile broadband slowly but surely becomes a reality. The mobile carriers advantage is unclear with their current positioning and I believe that the rumors of Verizon, T-Mobile and others wanting to support Gphone terminals at launch is more related to what they expect will be an iPhone effect (selling a lot of new subscriptions), rather than a real underlying data-driven strategy.
In any case it’s very good news for the industry. Gphone will be open to developers, and anything open on mobile is new and most welcome!
Sphere: Related ContentTopics: Google, Nokia, Microsoft, Symbian, Sony Ericsson |
