Well golly, it looks like Michael Arrington’s source was right — Google has created its own phone, sort of. Last month, Arrington wrote of a new Google-branded Android handset. Many journalists, myself included, were skeptical. After all, Google executives repeatedly denied the rumors. There were many good reasons for Google not to get into the handset game. For one thing, producing hardware is an entirely difference process than creating Web services. You have to worry about things like supply chains and material costs. Just ask Apple about that.
Another good reason is that Google would go into competition against its own customers. Currently, all Android devices on the market are co-branded with handset and cell phone carrier companies. A Google phone — particularly one that isn’t tied down to a specific carrier — would go into competition with these other devices. We usually refer to this practice as “biting the hand that feeds you.” These companies have helped Android become a viable smart phone platform. It would seem strange for Google to strain those relationships by marketing its own phone.
We don’t know for sure if that’s what Google is going to do yet. An official Google blog post admits (in a roundabout way) that the company created and distributed handsets to company employees. The blog post states that the new hardware will help Google employees create and test innovative mobile device applications. In other words, the hardware is a sandbox tool. Such a device may never go to the consumer market (though I bet you’ll find a few on sale on eBay or Craigslist before too long). According to this report from Reuters, the device is codenamed Nexus One and was made by HTC.
But there are some good reasons why Google might launch this phone as a consumer product. Because Google decided to take a more open approach to the Android platform, the company faces some challenges when developing new features. It’s possible that not every device on the market running Android will be able to run the same set of features smoothly. If Google took more control over the design process and established an “official” Android phone, the company could create features that are guaranteed to work on that phone. This is the approach Apple took — Apple controls every aspect of the iPhone’s production either directly or indirectly. The resulting hardware is less open but it also works (more or less) the way Apple intended.
If you’d like to see some images of the device, Engadget has a post with several photos. Engadget also has a few more details of the phone and its native applications.
Obviously, rumors will continue to circulate over whether Google will release this device to the public in the future. I’m sure we’ll hear more from Google in the near future.
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