LG just announced their plan to pre-install Google services on "millions" of LG cellphones in North America and beyond. So the headline over at Telecoms Korea which reads, "LG to launch Google Phone in Q2" is in fact just Google software and not the magical
Google phone touted by the rumor mill. At least this clarifies the comments made by Google's South-East Asia managing director when he stated that Google was "
very focused on the software, not the phone." At least 10 new "LG-Google handsets" will start shipping globally in 2007, each with a preload of Google Maps, Gmail, and Blogger mobile applications. The first of these handsets are expected to hit in Q2. So yeah, it's not the
Google phone we've all been
expecting hoping for, but with
18 R&D projects in the Google labs, we don't expect this to be the final word on the subject.
[Via
Telecoms Korea (subscription required)]
posted Mar 28th 2007 4:09AM
And LG will probably claim that Apple stole their idea of having Google apps on a phone.
yay I love google software. but I have verizion so they will charge $10 a month to get google apps.
We can only wish Verizon would let us have Google apps. They're all Java and Verizon uses BREW.
To other people wanting these apps: Get a midlet loader for your phone or download them with the phone's browser?
This is great new, because now, any phone can be a gPhone =D
I'd like to thank the Engadget crowd for remembering my "Google software on third party hardware" predictions as opposed to a Google-made handset.
Seriously though, how awesome is this? It will be SOOOOO great if Gmail, Gcal and the rest of the Google office suite wind up on a smartphone with a full keyboard. I will officially throw my Windows Mobile device from a moving car. You wouldn't believe the number of businesses in the Northeast that have actually abandoned MS Office and Exchange for the Google suite in order to reduce costs and centralize their data.
ANDREW: I laughed when I saw your comment until I realized how right you are. VZW is notorious for disabling features only to charge you a fee for the right to use them later...pricks. If they didn't have the best network coverage I would cancel my service.
Anyway, you go Google...so excited for this.
it is good to know this
So I guess instead of callimnng it a Google phone, we can call it a googled phone.
Any chance of LG doing this as a firmware upgrade for older LG phones? My carrier Bell/MTS locks out all phones from downloading from sources outside of their own Getstuff program.
They even locked out the Bluetooth data transfer abilities on the LG 325 phone, even though they advertised it as a feature.
So now have we officially moved from salivating for an Apple phone to salivating for a Google phone?
The china version google phones....
http://www.ce.cn/cysc/communications/xjdb/200704/25/W020070425416765730036.jpg
http://big5.ce.cn/cysc/communications/xjdb/200704/25/t20070425_11161258.shtml