The Googlephone is coming

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is on the verge of announcing its arrival in the cell phone market. The authoritative financial newspaper confirms that there is no mention of a BigG branded terminal, but of a large package of applications and tools which could be made available to end customers through operators.

One of the obstacles for Google, notes the WSJ, is the fear of carriers of losing control of the contents that pass through mobile phones. On the negotiating table, then, there would also be the thorny issue of privacy: when Google is involved, it is always a fashionable topic. In any case, BigG seems to have managed to solve both issues, and it would be well advanced in signing agreements with various operators on both sides of the Atlantic: the official announcement would be about two weeks away.

There would also be Google-ready terminals at stake. In this sense, Mountain View would be discussing with two Asian companies: HTC and LG. If the rumors are confirmed, by mid-2008 mobile phones will arrive on the market with Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps and, of course, the BigG search engine, all already integrated and ready to be used. For a mobile less and less telephone and more and more Internet-centric minicomputer. (LA)