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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

What doesn’t Google have? A phone (but not for long)

By Steve Pounds | Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 01:27 PM

Like there aren’t enough new mobile handsets on the market now.

Verizon Wireless is releasing a handful of new phones before Thanksgiving, and has been doing an advertising blitz on television to push them.

Motorola introduced the new, thinner RAZR in August at $250 and a phone called the “Q9” with a full keyboard like the Research-in-Motion’s Blackberry.

Now there’s talk of a Google phone. Google-designed software, presumably to more efficiently run applications such as Google Maps or Gmail or even the video service, YouTube, would be plugged into handsets. Nothing yet on which manufacturers would buy into it.

Here’s the details: (clink on link)

Never mind that Apple is planning to limit the sale of the iPhone to two per customers for the holiday season, the Associated Press said. The iPhone’s search capability will no doubt push others to make “search” easier.

“Search” has become so important when we use our computer at home — to get directions, check a movie listing or look for a job. It could easily become second only to voice calls themselves as the most oft-used function on a phone. Or will music or movie functionality ala iPod get more attention?

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