Rumor: Google Phone Will Be Linux-Powered, GPS-Loaded and Cheap


location based services
portable navigation device

By Michael Calore August 27, 2007 5:24:47 PMCategories: Google, Linux, Mobile, maps
If the murmurs are true, the GPhone cometh in September.
Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins has uncovered some details about the long-rumored (and apparently all but confirmed) Google Phone.
According to Rizzn's source at Google, the device runs a modified version of the Linux kernel and has GPS built in. The positioning system will be used to power a Google Maps application, and the phone will also have tight integration with other Google apps like Gmail, Calendar and Docs. The source for Rizzn's post notes that the company will announce the device in two weeks, and that a North American version will be available soon, possibly by the end of the year.
Rizzn also notes that Google's mobile device "is less about beating the iPhone and more about beating the $100 Laptop" made by the OLPC project. He speculates that Google will sell the phones for cheap and then reap ad revenue from targeted, text-based ads served to the phone. This isn't entirely new information, but it's interesting to hear the comparison with the OLPC -- at the least, we'll see an inexpensive, accessible device that uses open-source software.
Whether any of this is true is open to debate. The search and services behemoth has certainly made its intentions to go after the 700MHz wireless spectrum clear, and has even pushed the FCC to adopt some new regulations which ease the use and adoption of device-and-carrier-agnostic open standards and services. This would not only benefit Google, but also any other manufacturer building gear for the spectrum.
Rizzn will be outlining his chat with the Google mystery man on his podcast Monday night. Meanwhile, what's your take? Fact or sweet, sweet fiction?
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