グーグル・フォンのプロトタイプが完成
グーグルがグーグル・フォンのプロトタイプを完成させている。T-Mobile USAやverizonなど複数の携帯事業者と携帯電話メーカーと話し合いを持ち複数メーカーからグーグル・フォンを出し、複数の事業者による運営を目指す。グーグル・フォンには検索、Eメール機能のほか新たに開発中のモバイル用ブラウザが載るほか写真とビデオが撮れるカメラや内蔵WIFI、GPSを備え、3Gをサポートする。またグーグルは政府の無線帯域ライセンスの競売に参加を表明しているので、将来グーグル自身が携帯事業者になる可能性があるが実現には数年の時間と多大なコストが必要となる。グーグル・フォンはいずれ月額利用料を無料化してすべての収入を広告だけに頼ることを目指している。
Google has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the cellphone project, say people who have been briefed on it. It has developed prototype handsets, made overtures to operators such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, and talked over technical specifications with phone manufacturers. It hopes multiple manufacturers will make devices based on its specs and multiple carriers will offer them.
Now it is drafting specifications for phones that can display all of Google's mobile applications at their best, and it is developing new software to run on them. The company is conducting much of the development work at a facility in Boston, and is working on a sophisticated new Web browser for cellphones, people familiar with the plans say.
The prize for Google: the potential to broker ads on the mobile phones, complementing the huge ad business it has built online. Google even envisions a phone service one day that is free of monthly subscription charges and supported entirely through ad revenue, people familiar with the matter say.
The specifications Google has laid out for devices suggest that manufacturers include cameras for photo and video, and built-in Wi-Fi technology to access the Web at hot spots such as airports, coffee shops and hotels. It also is recommending that the phones be designed to work on carriers' fastest networks, known as 3G, to ensure that Web pages can be downloaded quickly. Google suggests the phones could include Global Positioning System technology that identifies where people are.
