Google Working on a Mobile Phone?

An anonymous reader writes "Are the boys from Mountain View planning a move into mobile hardware? silicon.com has been encouraging analysts to dissect rumours that the search giant has designs on building a mobile. It says 'If Google were to get into the device game, it would be more likely to concentrate on the wi-fi side of things — perhaps a single-mode VoIP phone optimised for Google services such as Gmail.'"

Re:Yes, it's going to involve two cans...

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is the link to the patent:
http://www.mad4mobilephones.com/news/621/ [mad4mobilephones.com]

Re:Why would Google do this?

[jackbird]

And let's not forget people have been going on and on about Google building it's own computers, operating systems, etc., and yet none of these things has appeared.

What's the Google Box [google.com], then?

Re:Why would Google do this?

[jhjessup]

Google is a web service company.

Is it? It wasn't so long ago, after all, that it was a search engine company.

Actually, it is and always has been an advertising company. Their revenue comes from advertising - their business plan is advertising, their research is focused around advertising. By knowing more about a person, they can deliver more effective advertisements. If they know when you're making phone calls regularly, they know what your hours are. If they know where you're calling frequently, they know the area you're likely to be in - they could even track where you are by cell node and target locally relevant ads - which they can sell at a premium.

Of course, they could be hideously more effective if they're analyzing all your electronic communications.

Hm. Maybe that's where the dark fiber comes in at. Just a thought.