Monday, August 27, 2007

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

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.

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/08/rumor-google-ph.html

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