Gphone The Next Revolution In Mobiles[Some Images]

Gphone The Next Revolution In Mobiles

After Iphone mania here is Gphone mania which is expected to bigger than that of Iphone's.
A HTC insider sent us a tip this weekend about an upcoming gPhone coming out of Taiwan that should launch Q1 2008. Google is currently assessing over twenty HTC models and refining its final handset design and will create a special version of Google Maps, compatible with built-in GPS, and compatibility with Gmail and the calendar app. There is also some talk that Samsung will be releasing gPhone handsets as well, but that has not been confirmed.

One extremely interesting point? Google Talk will become a part of the phone, adding VoIP capability to the hardware.


The software should be like Yahoo! Mobile, a similar application that leverage’s Yahoo’s mail and search solutions for handsets. However, that Google is going ahead with an actual hardware launch and may be using its own OS — the tipster mentioned WinMo 6 but there is a better chance that they will be using a Linux-based OS — and hardware is quite a shocker. More as this develops
The first Android phone looks a lot like the fuzzy pictures that have surfaced online for months, with a touch screen similar to the iPhone and a full slide-out keyboard.

From pc world
T-Mobile, Google and HTC unveiled the long-awaited Android phone at an event in New York on Tuesday, revealing pricing, availability and some of the initial applications and emphasizing that the software is open source.

The phone will first become available in the U.S. but a U.K. launch will follow shortly after. Starting Oct. 22, U.S. consumers will be able to buy the G1 for US$179. Users can subscribe to a limited data plan for $25 a month or $35 for unlimited data access.

The G1 will go on sale in the U.K. in early November and other T-Mobile European markets in the first quarter next year.

A demonstration of the phone showed a user flicking the screen to scroll through items, much like the gestures used with the iPhone. The G1, however, also supports the "long press," where a user holds a finger to the screen to open up a menu. For example, holding a finger on a photograph opens a menu offering options such as the ability to send the photo to someone else.

The phone includes a browser built on Webkit, the same technology that drives Apple's Safari browser, said Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms for Google, who is credited with leading the Android development. He called it "Chrome-light," comparing it to the Chrome browser that Google recently introduced.

In a browser window, a user can drag a small box around the Web site and the content behind the box is magnified for easier viewing on the small screen.

The phone, which the executives referred to as "G1 with Google", features many Google applications, including Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Flickr and GTalk. It is also integrated with the Amazon MP3 store, allowing users to easily buy digital music, and features the Android store where users can browse and buy new applications.

The phone also includes a dedicated search button. When users press it, a Google search bar pops up on the screen.

G1 users will be able to read Word, PDF and Excel documents but initially at least won't be able to synch Microsoft Exchange mail with the phone. "Currently there's no Exchange compatibility but that's a perfect opportunity for a third-party developer," said Rubin.


When the G1 hits the market, Google will open-source the Android platform. That means that any developer, in addition to being able to write applications for the software, can also modify the platform, "make it better," Rubin said.

The launch event featured a video interview with a few developers, some of whom won a contest Google sponsored for developers of Android applications. They talked up the importance of openness -- perhaps a jab at iPhone. They stressed that developing for Android is free and that any application can be added to the Android application store. By contrast, iPhone developers have to buy the SDK (software development kit), albeit for a low price, and Apple determines which applications will go into the App Store.

Android comes at a time when openness is taking center stage in the mobile market. Symbian, the smartphone platform with the largest market share around the world, recently announced it would open up and the LiMo mobile Linux group is gathering steam. But some experts have wondered if the extent of Android's openness, which allows anyone to change fundamental features, will lead to fragmentation. Without a basic set of features, some applications built for Android won't be able to work properly on all Android devices.