Exec Confirms Google Phone

cyberianpan writes "The head of Google in Spain and Portugal has confirmed that Google is working on a mobile phone. "Some of the time the engineers are dedicated to developing a mobile phone," This could be the 20% free time development but publicizing that would be stupid. Obviously this phone could link in with Google Earth/Maps... it is a marketers dream for targeted advertising."

Magical Google phone?

[Applekid]

"... it is a marketers dream for targeted advertising."

How is that different than other phones? I've heard lots of bells and whistles over the years about phones being a portal to direct advertising and that I'd get ads pushed to my phone constantly and, at least myself and my circle of contacts, it's. just. not. happening.

I don't see what would make Google phone more viable for direct marketing than iPhone or a regular cell that can run Google Maps mobile on it already.

I'd be more concerned with a Google phone dropping calls when you start talking about stuff the Chinese government would consider corrupting influences on society.

Best Feature Evar

[whisper_jeff]

"... it is a marketers dream for targeted advertising."

Yeah. Because the ability to have people send you more unwanted advertising is a feature everyone looks for when buying a new phone.

Ties you to their services, gives them your info

[The Amazing Fish Boy]

If it had GPS, it could know where you are, and display advertisements accordingly. This could just be the splash screen on your phone. Also, you could press "Food" or enter "pizza" and it would show you restaurants in the area, maybe even give you directions. Maybe you could even set it to ring a certain way when you're near a good restaurant.

Tying you to their other products (Gmail, Picasa) will also bring them ad revenue. It could also legitimate Google's services for the Blackberry crowd. I think that like iPhone for Apple, this would fill the gap for Google's PDA.

And I imagine contact information is worth a lot to them. Who's in your address book, who you're calling, when you call people, when you're phone is on/off, etc. Not to mention if there's GPS, they'd know where you go during the day.

Re:Magical Google phone?

[bheer]

> I get SMS spam from Sprint just about every other day

SMS ads are untargeted and largely provoke negative reactions. Sounds familiar to banner ads? Google's business model is all about creating advertising models that don't piss users off, and they've succeeded on the web. I'm not a huge Google fan (I don't buy their "don't be evil" kool-aid) but I'd put money that if anyone makes mobile advertising work, it'd be Google.

I they provided the phone and usage free

[wiredog]

or at a very low cost compared to others (Say, $5/month instead of $40), it might do quite well.

I wouldn't get one, but then I'm one of those weirdos who just wants a phone to make phone calls.

Why is this news??

[8127972]

(other than the fact it's about Google)

It didn't come from Larry Page and Sergey Brin or anybody like that. For all we know, this statement may just be some sort of FUD meant to scare people who put out other smart phones (Read: Microsoft, Palm, etc.).

I'll wait for some sort of "official" announcement.

Re:Best Feature Evar

[babbling]

The thing about targetted advertising is that they're trying to make sure they're advertising something you do want.

Re:oh jolly be golly gosh willakers!

[tomstdenis]

I'm not saying that it's a bad idea, I'm saying it won't be implemented without a huge amount of greed.

I should also point out an entire host of other misfeatures that are ONLY A COST

1. Shitty cameras
2. 22KHz sound drivers
3. Limited storage
4. Features disabled by the telco (file movement, bluetooth)
5. Limited CPU performance (re: 10fps videos)

Granted some of that is getting better, they are certainly dragging their feet as slow as possible to milk every last nickle and dime they can. And for those of us who just want a 'phone phone' we're often stuck with a phone that has absolutely no features (like say tri or quadband).

I won't hold my breath to see how this pans out. Because I know it'll take 10 years before we can get todays technology in tomorrows phones.

Tom

Re:Ties you to their services, gives them your inf

[dreamchaser]

Yes, but couple the capability with Google's penchant and capabilities for and with contextual ads. I can see them doing exactly that.

Re:Best Feature Evar

[mhall119]

Yeah. Because the ability to have people send you more unwanted advertising is a feature everyone looks for when buying a new phone.

No, but getting a $700 phone for $100 is a feature everyone looks for, and most people are willing to submit to unwanted advertising to get it. It's the same reason Dells are so popular.

Re:the industry needs this

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you feel secure keeping all your info on someone else's machine that you have no control over....I myself do not. I want my phone to be tied to --at most-- to my desktop and nothing else. The iPhone is not deficient in that respect to me.

Re:Magical Google phone?

[Bandman]

technically, so does my stock dump spam, but anyway...

Re:Magical Google phone?

[painQuin]

when you are married, you will understand that having someone else in charge of remembering such things for you is a -good- thing