What about the Google Phone is Going to matter?

Take a peek on Techmeme and you might think the only story in tech news is the upcoming and likely release of a Google Phone.  I’m sure it will be decent enough but am starting to question the logic a bit given the rumor that the Nexus One as it seems to be called will be sold as an open device, yet on T-Mobile.

I’m definitely a fan of open.  I absolutely prefer that my mobile devices not have restrictions based on operator business development initiatives and instead offer all that the hardware and OS can deliver.  I just don’t see how this device is going to really make that much of a difference for the mainstream consumer – or for T-Mobile.  According to the FCC leak the supported bands will be global and specifically TMO’s (1700) in the US.

If T-Mobile sells and supports the device it will really be a T-Mobile device.  Even if you buy it elsewhere you will need to run it on T-Mobile (again in the US) to actually take advantage of the 3G services and why would you buy an advanced smartphone otherwise?

I would love to be a fly on the way at Verizon Wireless right now.  They just spent gobs of cash launching the Droid which is strongly co-branded Google and has little to no Verizon anywhere.  Maybe they jumped the gun on going for Droid so quickly when big G had this cooking (to compete) all along …

I’m wondering whether Google might be looking to upend the subsidy market by  taking on the cost directly in exchange for all the lovely data they track … assuming a Google phone is like the G1 in that you must have a Google Account for it to work.  I tend to agree with Ewan that this really is going to be a price play.  It’s unlikely that this will be the phone for me, and I do wonder who an open Android device is for just now … Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

6 Replies to “What about the Google Phone is Going to matter?”

  1. Google is moving down in the stack to challenge B2C opponents with an open architecture and new sets of standards. In creating a post-revenue business model, Google can only manage success if consumers accept a co-branding and outsourced manufactured device … NQ Logic recommends reading about the rest of the new Google's mobile strategy at http://www.nqlogic.com

  2. Google is moving down in the stack to challenge B2C opponents with an open architecture and new sets of standards. In creating a post-revenue business model, Google can only manage success if consumers accept a co-branding and outsourced manufactured device … NQ Logic recommends reading about the rest of the new Google's mobile strategy at http://www.nqlogic.com

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