Official Google Phone Coming in January 2010, Testing Now

[MacRumors]

Leaked image from TheUnlockr.com
TechCrunch reports that Google has begun testing a new Android device with their employees. The new device is said not to be just another Android-based phone, but the official Google Phone that has been rumored for some time. From TechCrunch:

Google is building their own branded phone that they’ll sell directly and through retailers. They were long planning to have the phone be available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010. The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding (Microsoft did the same thing with their first Zunes, which were built by Toshiba).

There won’t be any negotiation or compromise over the phone’s design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be.

This new phone is said to be a no-compromises version of an Android phone and has been reported to include these details/features:

- Sold as an unlocked GSM phone, so in the U.S. T-Mobile and possibly AT&T
- Android 2.1
- Uses Snapdragon chip and is "really, really fast"
- High resolution OLED screen
- Thinner than iPhone
- Two mics, one on the back to reduce background noise
- "Weirdly" large camera
- Touchscreen keyboard
- Voice to text for dictation

The Google Phone is said to be due for release in January 2010.

Article Link: Official Google Phone Coming in January 2010, Testing Now

[*LTD*]

The Great Android Fragmentation continues . . .

[specops]

I must say i havent even been interested in another phone other than the iPhone from Apple, but i think Google could make an awsome competitor. This can really only be good for us...

[happydude]

tmobile? perhaps the only worse choice than at&t. good luck with that carrier.

other than that, i welcome competition to the iphone!

[FanboyE]

It looks nice but really I could never see myself getting it over my iPhone

[iOrlando]

i know i will not be buying this. next non-apple topic please.

[scottness]

Hmmm... More competition = better iPhone

[diehldun]

Originally Posted by iOrlando

i know i will not be buying this. next non-apple topic please.

It's still just as relevant.

[kresh]

... and not only this phone, I hope Google does a phoneless version like the iPod touch.

I hope they mop the floor with the current generation of Apple devices. Nothing else will spur Apple to innovate even more and hopefully cause Apple to relax their strangle hold on the ecosystem. I mean honestly, I shouldn't have to jailbreak my iPod touch to get the added functionality that jailbreaking provides.

[DARKJ3DI]

that silver plastic strip around the bottom of the phone is hideous!

its the same shape of my tv remote

[gniss39]

Dang I wish it would come out for Verizon!!! =(

[DaveGee]

Originally Posted by *LTD*

The Great Android Fragmentation continues . . .

Shoooosh up!

Hey if you like technology and big companies spending the monies they spend to continue to produce faster better cheaper devices then I'm all for it.

Apple could become VERY VERY stagnant with the iPhone if it weren't for phones like this that make them say ... hey we can't hang out in the slow lane for the next 12 months and milk the current version like they have a habit of doing with most other hardware they build.

[FightTheFuture]

Originally Posted by *LTD*

The Great Android Fragmentation continues . . .

yeah i find this very strange. i thought that Google wanted to be on every smartphone, not compete with every smartphone...

[MrGouda]

I am definitely interested in this phone, especially the part about it being sold unlocked from the start!

Maybe that'll get Apple to start pushing their weight around to getting the iphone unlocked from the get go.

[palmerc2]

hmm....I wonder how much it will cost since it will be unlocked right out of the gate....will it even sell in t-mobile or att stores? Or only to be bought online, best buy or circuit city?

if it has a high OLED screen, plus a faster processor Apple may have to do an overhaul....

in my honest opinion, the front of the iPhone is looking dated....with these new touch screen (and touch typing) phones coming out it should spur Apple to stay ahead of the 8-ball

I don't put down other phones, but I like my iPhone a lot and don't plan on getting rid of it

[ELScorcho9]

This looks like a pretty awesome phone. But I'm with everyone else in that this will be healthy competition for the iPhone.

[B1gMac]

I hope this actually turns out to be a real competitor. The iPhone is great, but it seems like they're waiting for a competitor to get really close, and then they'll release a much better version. (3g to 3gs was such a boring update because they didn't need to do anything exciting and they'd still be the best.) A january g-phone release gives Apple time to react/destroy this summer. I'm excited.

[dave4122]

This phone is what I believe called the HTC Passion, which if you go to the phonearena.com website look under VERIZON upcoming phones and you will see it there. ATT or T-Mobile do not have it under their names

here the direct link:

http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/HTC-...ne-p_4194.html

[Porco]

Looks like it could be a decent phone. But I don't trust google...

If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place

I'm glad that guy (Eric Schmidt) isn't at Apple any more with an attitude like that.

[arjaosx]

Amusing but feels like many manufacturers competing with the iPhone are making products to be fed on by Apple.

Like raising livestock enriched with vitamins to feed a boa. LOL

[ctt1wbw]

Why do people keep calling this a Google phone? HTC made it, not Google. You could also call any other Android cell phone a Google phone. This makes no sense at all to me. If Google made the phone, then yeah it could be called a Google phone.

[extraextra]

Originally Posted by DARKJ3DI

that silver plastic strip around the bottom of the phone is hideous!

its the same shape of my tv remote

Yes, I was thinking without the gray strip the phone would look pretty nice.

[dave4122]

Originally Posted by dave4122

This phone is what I believe called the HTC Passion, which if you go to the phonearena.com website look under VERIZON upcoming phones and you will see it there. ATT or T-Mobile do not have it under their names

here the direct link:

http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/HTC-...ne-p_4194.html

HTC Passion

[MrGouda]

Originally Posted by ctt1wbw

Why do people keep calling this a Google phone? HTC made it, not Google. You could also call any other Android cell phone a Google phone. This makes no sense at all to me. If Google made the phone, then yeah it could be called a Google phone.

You obviously didn't read the entire article: "The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding (Microsoft did the same thing with their first Zunes, which were built by Toshiba)."

Same thing with the iphone. Apple doesn't make it, Foxconn does. Sure, Apple designed it, but they don't build them.

[dagamer34]

Originally Posted by ctt1wbw

Why do people keep calling this a Google phone? HTC made it, not Google. You could also call any other Android cell phone a Google phone. This makes no sense at all to me. If Google made the phone, then yeah it could be called a Google phone.

In the same vein, Apple does not produce its phones, it contracts Foxconn to do so. Two can play that game.

It's less about who produces it, and more about who will be selling it/providing support. Because, let's be honest, 99% of electronics is made in China/Japan/Taiwan by a separate corporate entity, so the difference between an HTC phone and a "Google" phone is that Google would be the primary support contact should anything go wrong. And that if Google doesn't want overloaded customer support, they have to put the fit and finish to avoid common problems.