Location and Social Networking Features To Dominate New Android Phones

Posted September 3rd, 2008 by Kathryn in Gphone (Google Phone)

When Google announced the creation of the Android platform, the company also issued a challenge to developers to create innovative applications for the product. Hundreds of developers rose to the challenge and entered the Android Developer Challenge competition. Fifty of those developers passed the first round of judging, won $25,000 each and went on to compete in the additional judging rounds. The competition is now complete with ten winners earning over a quarter of a million dollars each for their creative applications and ten more walking away with $100,000 for being runners-up in this intense competition. The new Android phones are going to be on the market soon, starting with the HTC Dream, and these are the applications that people are likely to make use of first.

  

Android Challenge Winners Look a Lot Alike

What was really interesting to see when the winners were announced was that the majority of the winning developers created applications that were similar to each other in one manner or another. A large percentage of the winners created applications that made use of GPS phone features in terms of offering location-based services, something that is not only … continue reading "Location and Social Networking Features To Dominate New Android Phones"

Google Android Phones Are Getting Closer

Posted August 5th, 2008 by Patrick in Gphone (Google Phone)

According to recent speculation and comments from mobile manufacturer HTC they are on target to release a Google Android phone in the UK later this year.Hui-ming Cheng commented that HTC is still on target to release a phone, thought to be the HTC Dream, running the new Android UI from Google towards the end of 2008.

Networks in the UK are understood to be interested in carrying the device but none have officially stated their intentions, presumably keen to wait until the phone has been developed.

Qualcomm are also building an Android based device and believe it can rival the iPhone - CEO Sanjay Jha said recently that the iPhone was not a perfect device and that “there are opportunities to do some things better”.

During a discussion Qualcomm also stated that their new chips were significantly more powerful than those in the iPhone. The Snapdragon line of voice and data chips feature a giant 1-gigahertz processor and the ability to run an 8 megapixel camera and HD video camera.

Nokia Buys Symbian and Plazes to Build Google Android Rival

Posted June 24th, 2008 by Patrick in Gphone (Google Phone)

Nokia has today announced two strategic acquisitions that will help it fend off the challenge from the Apple iPhone and Google’s upcoming Android operating system.

The major acquisition is of the final 52 percent of Symbian Ltd for £209m. Nokia already owned 48 percent of the company but has made a clear statement of intent by buying the further shares today.

Nokia is partnering with a range of companies to launch the Symbian Foundation, an open source model for the Symbian wireless operating system.

In a statement Nokia chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said:

“This will drive the development of new and compelling, web-enabled applications to delight a new generation of consumers. The wide support for this initiative, uniting the industry around the Symbian platform, reflects the strong gravitational pull it has for application developers”

This certainly seems a good deal for Nokia, who pay Symbian over $200m every year in license fees already. A buyout for $400m is clearly a good deal for the company.

As well as Symbian Nokia has also completed a takeover of German start-up Plazes which offers location-based social networking services across the globe. Users can manually geotag WiFi hotspots and then communicate with nearby friends or share location based experiences such as photos and videos online.

According to the press release Nokia will be able to extend its context-based service offering with social presence and time-based activity planning features. Plazes adds the elements of “place” and “time” to social networking through features that allow people to alert friends of their activity and location; review their own and others’ past activities; share their experiences and make plans with friends, who are then able to respond with comments and suggestions as well as their own location information.

Nokia Happy To Leave Mobile Search To Google

Posted May 20th, 2008 by Patrick in Gphone (Google Phone)

Nokia head of search Jussi-Pekka Partanen is happy to leave the field of mobile search to Google according to comments made in a recent interview.

Partanen explained that Nokia prefers to partner with Google because of the “amount of consumer demand for these big search brands”. This partnership allows Nokia to spend time concentrating on location based search and device search.

Nokia has seen impressive adoption rates for its Nokia Maps product which will be standard on all high-end devices over the next few years. The service uses GPS and allows users to type in a keyword to get back all the relevant information around them.

Another interesting opportunity is for mobile phones to become a remote control for peoples PC’s and other media devices (in much the same way the mobile application for Sky Plus works). Being able to search your home PC using a mobile phone or even watch films via your handset is Nokia’s vision. Services such as SlingPlayer already offer a similar service but if Nokia could include the application in their phones by default it gives a significant advantage over other manufacturers.

The 12 Most Awesome Google Android Applications

Posted May 12th, 2008 by Kathryn in Gphone (Google Phone)

After Google released its Android phone platform into the market, the company launched an Android Developer Challenge to stimulate competition amongst those people creating applications for the product. Applications that were submitted for review included everything from cutting-edge mobile social networking apps to innovative ideas for using the cell phone to remotely control your … continue reading "The 12 Most Awesome Google Android Applications"

Google - King of the Wireless World

Posted May 7th, 2008 by Kathryn in Gphone (Google Phone)

There is no doubt that Google is the giant when it comes to search engines but the company is also well-known for making moves in other areas of the technology business. In the past few years, one of the major areas of development has been Google’s involvement in the wireless sector. With the release of the Android platform, the development of applications for the mobile web and … continue reading "Google - King of the Wireless World"

Google Open-Source Browser Set To Revolutionise The Mobile Market

Posted February 18th, 2008 by Paul in Gphone (Google Phone)

If Google’s domination of the internet is anything to go by, its much anticipated ‘Android’ operating system could end up having a similar effect on mobile phones. Finally taking a bow at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, the adaptable open source solution, based on Linux, was developed by an alliance of over 30 companies, including Google, and has seen backing from numerous companies such as ARM, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.

The Android platform offers maps, a web browser, multimedia player, email, digital camera and numerous other applications set to become mainstays in the mobile device’s digital arsenal.

… continue reading "Google Open-Source Browser Set To Revolutionise The Mobile Market"

Where’s my G-Phone? Google thinks Android is better

Posted November 8th, 2007 by Alex in Gphone (Google Phone)

So, the announcement came and went with no sign of a GPhone. And in fact, there will be no sign of a GPhone, at least not the kind we were hoping for when we went crazy with Photoshop.

Google’s announcement of Android, an open development platform which has a software development kit following soon, and the Open Handset Alliance is better than any mere piece of hardware (or so the company says). Google’s team haven’t been blind to the rumours and in a piece of the Official Google Blog entitled “Where’s my GPhone?”, Director of Mobile Platforms Andy Rubin addressed them by stressing how much better a universal – and free – platform would be than just another phone.

The Open Handset Alliance is the result of around thirty partnerships with the likes of T-Mobile, Motorola, HTC and many more. We last heard ‘HTC’ and ‘Google’ in the same sentence when the former were rumoured to be the GPhone manufacturer of choice. Instead they’ll be the first company to launch a handset running Android next year, despite generally being in a close and cosy partnership with Microsoft and producing a regular flow of Windows Mobile smartphones.

… continue reading "Where’s my G-Phone? Google thinks Android is better"

Google Phone out within a Week – Again

Posted November 1st, 2007 by Julian in Gphone (Google Phone)

Here we go again… there has been some breaking news this week from the likes of The Wall Street Journal that the long awaited Google Phone could be released WITHIN A WEEK! Do I believe it… No! Over the last few months they have been numerous stories about the “Google Phone Launching in Two Weeks”, all from reliable sources of course.

The news certainly helped Google’s share price. Shares of the search giant gained $12.23, or 1.76 percent, to $707 in closing trading, breaking through the $700 mark on Wednesday for the first time. Not bad considering the originally share price was sub $100 in Aug 2004. The $700 share price values Google at an amazing $196 billion, and the news on Wednesday about the Google phone alone increased the market capitalization by £3.36 billion.

Here is a quick recap of what we know about the Google Phone:

The functionality and spec of the Google Phone

The first photo of the Google Phone

What the Google Phone might look like (Various concepts)

Google Mobile Phone patent

Newest “leaked” Google Phone photos

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Google Phone Launching in Two Weeks

Posted August 28th, 2007 by Julian in Gphone (Google Phone)

It has been reported by a popular Indian newspaper that the mythical GPhone is only a fortnight away from a global launch. The newspaper claims that a simultaneous launch across the US and Europe is expected, and Google plans to invest $7-8 billion into it’s global telephony strategy.

I’m personally more than a bit sceptical about this development because to date there has been so little info about the Gphone as Google have been extremely secretive. When asked about the recent rumours a Google spokesperson said:

“We don’t comment on market rumour or speculation. However, Google is committed to providing users with access to the world’s information, and mobile becomes more important to those efforts every day. We’re collaborating with partners worldwide to bring Google search and applications to mobile users everywhere. However, we have nothing to announce at this time.”

Previously it was rumoured that the maker of the Google phone (HTC) will commence shipments by end of 2007 and it would be available in global markets by start of 2008. So either the original rumours was wrong or the launch date has been substantially pulled forward. … continue reading "Google Phone Launching in Two Weeks"