"Google phone" to call iPhone's bluff?

Adam Turner
Monday, 18 December 2006 04:16

IT Industry - Market

Hot on the heals of the Apple iPhone rumour comes Google phone - a possible a multi-billion-dollar partnership between the search engine behemoth and telco giant Orange.

The Google phone will have a screen similar to a video iPod and come pre-installed with Google applications such as Google Earth, Gmail and Google Docs & Spreadsheets, according to rumours reported by the UK's Observer.

Smartphone specialists HTC is rumoured to be building the Google phone, although it's not expected to hit the shelves until 2008. Executives from Orange are believed to have flown to Silicon Valley for preliminary discussions about a joint deal at Google's headquarters

Orange and HTC previously partnered to produce the first Windows Mobile smartphone, with HTC's smartphones re-badged in various countries as i-Mate, Dopod, Qtek, O2 and other brands. Should HTC build a Google phone, it would most likely run Windows Mobile - although optimised with Google software to improve the browsing and searching experience.

The rumour comes amidst the on again, off again rumours that Apple is set to announce an iPhone - a cross between an iPod and a mobile phone. A cryptic post on Gizmodo over the weekend indicated the iPhone may be announced as early as this Monday in the US. Should this be true, the leaking of Google phone details could be seen as an attempt to steal Apple's thunder.