A long time ago, there was chatter that Google was developing a “Google phone”. Turns out, this rumour was somewhat squashed when Google revealed the Android OS instead. However, things have taken a very interesting turn as of yesterday.
Google officially announced that some employees are starting an “Android dogfood diet for the holidays“:
At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from “eating your own dogfood”). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level.
We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.
Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.
Whoa. So Google employees will have the actual Google Phone out in the wild, to test it out over Christmas. Obviously this is quite the ploy by Google as it gets people talking and buzzing about this Google Phone. The details include the following according to TechCrunch:
– The Google Phone is made by HTC (remnants of the HTC Passion) and will launch in January 2024
– It will be sold as an unlocked GSM phone by Google to customers (wow, imagine if we had that in Canada)
– It will be running Android OS 2.1; nickname is Nexus One
– High resolution OLED touchscreen, no keyboard, two mics, thinner than the iPhone, big camera plus inclusion of voice to text feature
All I can is if Google does the right thing and sells the Google Phone directly to customers in the USA and Canada, they will be starting a revolution in mobile sales. No longer will consumers be required to deal with carriers to buy phones–they can go straight to Google. Also, these phones will be unlocked, allowing everyone to use them anywhere in the world. Very, very smart.
That would mean Canadians could buy the Google Phone, and then just pop their respective SIM card from either Rogers, Telus, and Bell and you would be a very happy camper! I really hope Canada doesn’t get the shaft, and have to wait a year for the Google Phone to hit our shores. Either way, you could easily go buy one down in the States and bring it back home!
The Google Phone pictured below:
Google is getting its time to shine with the Google Phone and Android OS. People are noticing, which is great as consumers get more choice as increased competition will arise.
What do you think of the Google Phone? Would you want one to replace your current Android phone?