Abhishek Tiwari

Recently I posted about a new mobile service (currently in beta) called Mosh Mobile, who was planning to offer free mobile service to its subscribers. There plan was to offer ads within messages and while browsing the internet. However there plan was to still sell the handsets (although cheap) to the users. I had wished that they could even make that free, which will make this offering unbeatable.

Over last few days there has been a buzz in the blogosphere about Google Phone. Today some credible sources are reporting that Google is definitively working on a phone and has been meeting with several vendors to identify the best path forward. Now the Google phone speculation is nothing new. Even I mentioned it in an earlier post. However this time around the rumors say that they are planning to offer it for free and support it by ads.

Wall Street Journal reported today that Google was indeed working on this strategy ad was looking at the ads to support this business. Mobile ads are typically very popular and pricy as they are personal and very targeted. Google could monetize this big time. WSJ reports that the effort is still in early stages and the device maybe available mid next year.

ComputerWorld is even reporting (Mandar, thanks for the link) that Google has prototypes ready and is showing to phone manufacturers and network operators. Clearly they are actively looking to partner with these companies to split the valuable ad dollar and bring this to the market in a big way.

Now obviously Google has no comments on that. However news is pouring from all directions. Not to mention their foray into the 700 MHZ spectrum and recent partnership with Sprint around WiMax. At the end of the day its the consumer who wins, which is what really counts.

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