Abhishek Tiwari

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The internet is buzzing with rumors about a possibility of a phone from Google. I too have posted some thoughts in the past. It is being said that Google isn’t developing a phone but an operating system. That kinda sounds right as Google is known for its software and not for its hardware capabilities. Although Andy Rubin (possibly the main guy running the GPhone operation) did create the SideKick, which was an awesome phone.

Based on this latest rumor, the threat could be more towards the likes of Microsoft, Symbian and other mobile OS providers. The OS play is interesting as Google will have to depend on OEM vendors and carriers to some extent for getting its service to the market. This is in contrast to Apple who has all or nothing mentality (of course excluding the RF infrastructure).

My intent with the post is not really to spread more rumors. It is more around analyzing how Google could solve this problem. They probably have the best armory of services and applications, which can be extended to a Mobile ecosystem. This post delves into the approach from my perspective. I will try and break my analysis down in various horizontal components, which comprise the ecosystem. This post will be in three parts covering:

1. Base operating system and mobile features
2. Messaging, Productivity and Media features (live now)
3. Application Ecosystem and Revenue Enablement (live now)

So without further ado, let’s look at part one.

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There have been significant discussions over the past few months around offering open wireless access. It all emanated from the upcoming FCC auction of the 700 MHZ spectrum. You can read the details from yesterday’s post.

However the brouhaha has been over offering the following on the new spectrum:

• Open Devices
  • Meaning users can buy devices from anywhere as far as they support the frequency. The wireless operator cannot lock the subscribers into any specific device
• Open Applications
  • Meaning that any application/service provider can deploy software which can run on these devices

As one can imagine that this has become a burning issue among the big boys of wireless. In middle of all this Sprint has been quietly working on deploying their WiMax service. Just last week they launched in Chicago (at WiMax World) at a snazzy press event staged on a cruise. Among various announcements they provided the first glimpse into the pricing structure of their service, which is scheduled to launch in 2008.

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Most of you know about Google throwing in the gauntlet in the wireless game. I have extensively covered some of that in this blog. Read the first four posts here:

1. Rise of the GoogNet
2. Rise of the GoogNet — Part 2
3. Rise of the GoogNet — Part 3 Well Sort Of
4. Rise of the GoogNet — Most Likely

Now things had been going hunky dory for Google. FCC had accepted two of four Google’s demands and most of the blogosphere was pretty happy with the results. However as one can expect, the big boys of wireless weren’t quite happy with the results. AT&T reacted with strong words. However Verizon the true veteran in this space had other ideas.

Verizon with its barrage of lawyers and access to unlimited knowledge of wheeling and dealing in the wireless space sued the FCC itself. They weren’t happy with the two options around open devices and open applications (surprise surprise!). As usual they want to lock the devices and offer limited access to the consumers.

Google has been pretty disappointed with these moves and has reacted strongly on their blog. RCR Wireless is also accusing Verizon of behind the scenes lobbying. All this has many worried and it seems like FCC may end up revising the rules. Google is standing by their views and are in constant conversations with FCC. Google has also claimed that if they win the auction from FCC, no matter what the rules say, they will open up the devices and applications.

Verizon who I had covered recently as the rejuvenated company, is looking as the bad guy in all this. Given their moves and public statements I am sure they aren’t making any friends. Certainly not Google.

I am definitely in favor of open policies. After all we the consumers here in the US will suffer if these rules aren’t changed. Frankly we live in the “third world” of wireless and will continue on that path if the incumbents had their way…

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This week the carnival comes to sunny Santa Cruz California. This is my first time hosting the carnival, so I am pretty excited to present some great posts from some really great bloggers.

I have categorized these posts in broad topics for your reading pleasure.

Security and Privacy

Malcolm who runs a blog on Smart-phones has authored a comprehensive post on the growing problem of piracy in the Smart Phone market.

Charles on the other hand looks at privacy and recommends everyone to be careful on what they leave on their cell-phones.

Ben from Masabists introduces the Two Factor Authentication for bettering mobile authentication.

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I am traveling this week and hence my posts will be short and sweet.

Palm finally announced that they will no longer be shipping the foolio Foleo. The hideous looking device, which was supposed to be a PDA companion was announced at the D5 conference earlier this year.

This announcement never quite made sense to me as the Foleo looked very close to a thin laptop but with reduced functionality. So if one wants to carry a device of such form factor, they might as well carry their laptops. I can speak from experience as I am some what of a road warrior.

The interesting part in all of this is that this device never shipped. Quite rarely it happens that a device is announced publicly but gets canceled before shipping. Anyways I am glad Palm decided to focus solely on the smartphone platform. Although the CEO Ed Colligan does mention something about Foleo II, which they will continue to explore.

Here is a video of Jeff Hawkins announcing the Foleo at D5.

GigaOm has a detailed analysis, check it out.

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