History is repeating itself in an odd way, but this time Apple isn't the one in the limelight. After a year of hype, Apple managed to make a moderately successful entrance into the mobile phone space; a market filled with cutthroat competition that's near impossible to casually enter. Now rumors are flying that another huge name in the web 2.0 world, Google, is about to do the same... maybe even bigger. What is the search engine turned juggernaut up to?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is sliding a prototype handset under the noses of cell phone makers and service providers, a move that no doubt means the masterminds at Google Labs thought of something cool. I'm not confident that Google has what it takes to design anything near as slick as the iPhone, but I bet Google's would be more functional. Still, I'll hold judgment until I actually see a prototype.
What's even more interesting is rumors that Google is debating on buying wireless spectrum being returned from the analog to digital TV transition in 2009. Let's put two and two together....
Google is showing off a prototype handset : Google is thinking about buying wireless spectrum.
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to not see some interesting correlations there. If Google doesn't get any love from the current crop of cell phone providers, will they buy wireless spectrum and do it themselves? They certainly have the money for it. However, with their own spectrum, it wouldn't even need to mirror current cellular offerings. Heck, it could be free for all if you're willing to tap at least one Google Ad every five minutes of talk time... not that that model has ever been proven to work.
Are we really ready for a Google phone or a "GoogleTalk" wireless service? What do you think Google is up to? What do you think it will be like?
