The Google Switch: an iPhone killer?
By Thomas Ricker 
posted January 18th 2007 8:51AM
posted January 18th 2007 8:51AM
Color us skeptics on this one, but we've got a tipster claiming to have the scoop on Google Switch. This version of the mythical Googlephone is said to be the result of a collaboration with Samsung -- not Alpha Networks or HTC. Of course, it's a button-less touchscreen device as is the rage these days only this time with GPS built-in for pinpoint navigation around Google Maps. What's pictured in that all too familiar blur (Photoshopped?) is the phone's contact program said to be an extended version of Gtalk combining Gmail, text and instant messaging. According to our tipster, the device doesn't have any on-board storage. That's right, all your applications are served up over the network with new apps "attached" to your account via a web interface. So what is it... the real deal or engorged fanboy fantasy? Check the gallery below for biggie pics suitable for dissection.
What's with all the "killing?" Is it impossible for two devices to co-exist in the market?????
One can only hope that the iphone is enough of a smack in the face to the competition that they come out with new products that are actually as good or better. I think the greatest thing about the iphone is that it raised the bar and if others can't keep up, they deserve their dismal failure.
@fanguad
Probably it has a stylus and some text recognition software, that way you can just write on the screen to input.
The only product that can actually be killed is the Zune, although that's not fair cause it was dead to begin with.
FAKE! The picture uses a photoshopped version of Motorola's new Linux UI. Plus, you know, the part where it LOOKS like a PHOTOSHOP.
I am curious to see how the new wave of touchscreen devices shakes down. Apple has entered a crowded market, where industrial design is only one part of the equation. Considering the time it takes to design devices like this, it seems that every major player has been working on a touchscreen device independently and now they are all simultaneously ready for primetime. Apple has enjoyed dominating the music player market, but they are swimming with sharks now...
Clearly a PS. If you're going to fake it, make it slick. This is not.
Is this thing even real? No onborad storage? What a joke. It's probably fake anyway. People will try to imitate the iPhone, but they will fail.
I decided to do some investigative reporting of this story and um... "took a walk" around Apple's development labs. I didn't find anything about this phone, but as the security guards were manhandling me out the door, I took this picture with my hidden shoe-phone.
http://nekomi.us/media/iPhone_cyborg.jpg
Yes! It's just what it looks like! Apple is making a version of the iPhone that walks and talks just like Steve Jobs, but has that iPhone interface we all love so much!
Sure, some of you may call BS on this photo, since it looks JUST LIKE a bad photoshop, and it looks VERY SIMILAR to an image on the first page of Google Images, but I SWEAR it real! I have insider information! I, uh... just left it at home.
(I love you guys at Engadget, but seriously, why do you post stuff like this?)
Wow, the iPhone is 5+ months from shipping and the phrase "iPhone killer" is already coined. Only in America.
I think this is fake but aside from that why, for the love of god, does every *competing* product have to "_______ killer" all the time? Just to whip up the fanbois?
Side note: doing a search for the endless number of times engadget has resorted to the tired "killer" label yields this excellent contextual ad placement:
Sponsored Links
Killer
Killer at Wal-Mart™ Wide Selection, Always Low Prices. www.walmart.com
"Hi, I'm a Mac."
"And I'm a, uh... Google... thing. RAWR."
http://www.thegooglephone.com
could be interesting...
I love how it's now apparently kill or be killed (the "iPhone killer") between products that may or may not even exist, and at the very least won't be released for some time. It's like some sort of meta-competition. Competition between actual products is so passe; now companies have to compete for the best rumors, even when it's not clear at all that either product in question would even be successful in the real marketplace.
Oh, and by the way, I think the real "iPhone killer" is all the other phones currently on the market. Not individually, but collectively. This is not the iPod all over again; this is a mature, saturated market.
I don't believe it at all. Fake, shopped, hoax, whatever.
google for a phone? sure. google for a phone with these ideas/pictures? no.
perhaps google would create a phone with a network interface, but it would have onboard storage. in order to understand what drives companies to produce something, you must think about the profit gains to be had. this stems from consumer preferences, which can be segmented. for example, many of the people posting here seem to think such a phone would bomb if it lacked music playback capability; however this is not necessarily the case. not all people MUST HAVE music playback. however, if the company sees that including such a feature produces more revenues than it will cost to include the feature, they will (obviously) include the feature. SO: if it is true that enough people are demanding a music service, then it will be included. dont lose sleep over it. if google makes a phone, they will make a product that reflects their brand: low cost (or free), creative, and easy-to-use.
getting back to the onboard memory issue, think about how small and cheap memory is nowadays! it would be seemingly silly to leave out a small onboard chip. perhaps some onboard memory could provide many of the network features at a limited level. remember, no reputable company (and most certainly not Google) would make a product that wouldnt work some of the time.
remember, all these things are pure speculation at this point. dont bid up the stock over it (unless you want to. i'll be fine with it, as tech stocks could use some help after yesterday's market...)
Remember the Apple Switch campaign? Google Switch? C'mon, it's a joke. Switch from Apple instead of to? Funny, but still a hoax.
OK so why is it always me that has to say the really important things! What freaking evil parrent would name their child Eldred Fylbrigg!
Why is it that Google and Apple get so many people saying such good things about them?
http://www.ourgreenville.com
Moar of dat app!
Compare the shadow on the iPod to that of the other phone. Don't seem to correlate very well.
Really wish this was true, but looks way to photoshopped and not even google-ish. It looks like a photoshoped PDA running Windows Mobile. Now, If im proven wrong then that would be amazing, but it just doesn't look real
My Treo 650 does more than the iPhone or the GooglePhone will ever do and I've been using it for a year...
if you take it and change saturation to +100 and lightness to +35 you can tell the screen was a separate layer and therefore Photo Shopped!
the concept nokia aeon is by far the best iphone challenger yet. this looks hardly ergonomic.
What a load of crap - as *if* it is real!. If the photographer was offered such a scoop, do you thickos *honestly* think he is going to mess up on the snapshot of a lifetime?... duhh!
iPhone and Apple are gonna leapfrog over all the clone-phones, shoving all others aside, and taking communication into the 22nd century. Good on them, they actually *know* how to invent, not photocopy other peoples inventions.
You're a naive gullible bunch, tbh!.
This is photoshopped, obviously. Compare the blurring of the iPod with the blurring of the... thing. Just not right.
Such a phone would be trivial to create for anyone . . . all the APIs are pretty much open.
This just prove my point that Engadget are Pro Apple Nazis. These people at Engaga are idiots. An iphone killer? based on what you morons? the iphone is an prove device on a inferior networks that cost $600 plus a $40 monthly/2 years contract.
This new google device should compared to the Sony E-Reader or the PSP. Afterall, its the best ebook on the market.
i will laught at you face when the iphone FAIL FAIL and FAIL.
I don't own an i-anything. I am totaly non-techno but somehow my name ended up on contact list of this alledgedly fake phone photo. If anyone discovers the source please post so I know whether to screen my calls (or lock my doors.)
Hehe, no storage, but everything will be shown through a web-like interface? So that means everything will be put on their server, which you have to get on your Google-phone through mobile-internet??
Lol, expect massive bills. Even if you don't make a call, simply typing a message or changing the settings will cost you data-transfer-costs :D
I'll pass, thanks.
If Google really wants to this - they have a real opportunity here to flip the phone industry on it's head and become a dominant player overnight. Picture this: A google phone, GSM, CDMA, WiFi, 3G...etc. capable that is totally unlocked, and able to be configured to work with any carriers data network. Make phone service VOIP and all that you need to get it working with any carrier is an unlimited data plan - every carrier has one for thier data cards. Bingo - worldwide domination of the wireless communication business. Google should sell it stand alone, independent of any carrier or plan, let the customers sort out which data service works best!
I have seen the page on the Google website which discusses Google's new phone. I personally think that the Google phone will absolutely KILL the iPhone... Apple is good, but Google kicks ass! For my full commentary visit http://www.tipsforonlinemarketing.com.
Take a look at Gpn (Global Phone Number) at http://www.watt.co.nz and you will understand that it is only a matter of time before an email address will be also your network phone number and that Google can either lead or follow.
Take a look at Gpn (Global Phone Number) at http://www.watt.co.nz and you will understand that it is only a matter of time before an email address will be also your network phone number and that Google can either lead or follow.
Hate to bursts your bubbles, but when it comes to technology there's always something better just around the corner. Believe that.
Apple should have made the phone part of the iPhone functional before even thinking of redecorating the iPod... smartphone? not.
YES. Thank you Google, you rock. I hope the google phone is as feature packed as the HTC Kaiser, as open to develop new software for as Linux, as simple to use as the iPhone, and as fast as google.
I would spend upwards of $1000 for such a device though I suspect google, in addition to the above four goals also will make the phone cheap and affordable for all.
I can't imagine that Google will aim for the same section of the market that Apple does.. more here http://knightknetwork.com/2007/09/04/theres-no-such-thing-as-an-iphone-killer/
Google phone will by no means by an iPhone killer. It would however be interesting to see on the features it provides to the consumer and at what price?
(http://thebizshow.wordpress.com)
gnu: "...iPhone and Apple are gonna leapfrog over all the clone-phones, shoving all others aside"
Seriously, I'm laughing at that so hard. Do you have any idea what the word 'fad' means? Research the 80's. Apple will have maybe three or four good years left before another company comes along and hands their asses to them. Ten years later everyone will say 'remember the iphone? I can't believe I spent $400/600 on it!' Trust me, something better is just around the corner - there always is! It just takes a younger generation of people to realize when something's not as cool as their predecessors thought it was. As for the google phone - I honestly think the premise is cool, but it won't be the be-all, end-all. Good for those who blew their money on an iphone. Frankly, as long as my phone can make or recieve calls - I'm happy. (Especially since I don't have AT&T/Cingular:X.)
Oh, and Apple's stuff isn't neccessarily better, it's good, but it sure as hell ain't better. I'm a Linux user, and let me tell you - I spent half as much money on my new computer as I did my old Mac, I swapped M$'s stupid Vista for Kubuntu w/Compiz-Fusion, and I'm ten times happier.
OK seriously people, Google phone ha, what a joke its just another rumor by people who dislike the iPhone, that want to get something else into the center of attention. Google phone not gonna happen since when can a phone run off no on board memory, and since when are blurred photo's legit?? plus user interface sucks iPhone at least put some work into it and hired an actual designer, to design the iPhone who ever photoshoped this photo, its time to redo it. oh BTW I've seen that photo before type ipod touch into Google images someones already photoshoped that image and this person only put a new screen design on it
Tim, it appears your right! Although:
Google announced the release of 'Android,' which is basically just an open-source mobile operating system. This makes me happier than if they were to announce a gphone. This means that other companies will be able to create a 'gphone' so to speak using this open-source software. I love open-source! Basically, now phones will be universally compatible, and customization reigns! I don't mean to bring up Apple again, but I hate how there stuff is never customizable. They try to cater to people who don't know what they're doing by using the 'one size fits all' philosophy. It just doesn't cut it for anyone who knows anything about computers.
In the world of technology, success depends to a very large extent on loyalty. Loyal ipod/iphone customers believe that nothing better can come outside Apple. Not of-course until they try something else. Human beings are creatures of habit. Habits die hard. Apple knows this. That is why they make their songs hard to play on other devices other than Apple's. I am absoludtely and positively sure that when the much talked about Google phone comes out, a lot of tech curious guys like me will buy it. If it does better than what we are used to, we will become converts. Otherwise, like most arranged marriages, it will flop. But I seriously doubt that any product that Google makes will flop that easily. I am eagerly waiting for this product. This just might be the next big thing in mobile commucications. If they make it play different files like WMA, Mp3, etc, and make internet connections broadband-like, I have no doubt that they will build a very powerful loyal customer base more than any thing else they have attempted.