Gadget News & Review

So long iPhone, here comes the Goophone

By Andy Goldberg, dpa

San Francisco (dpa) - A month after the ballyhooed launch of Apple's iPhone, the luster is wearing off the most overhyped device of the new millennium. But fear not gadget lovers - there are whispers of a new cell phone to rock your world.

If the speculation about Google's planned mobile phone is even half true, the GooPhone will have iPhone users dropping their expensive devices as quickly as hot bricks.

Details of Google's mobile plans are emerging at the same time as reports that Apple is slashing the production of the iPhone, and AT&T, Apple's cell-phone partner, has removed it from the prime spot on its website. In addition, Apple is facing several lawsuits over the iPhone's hard-to-replace battery.

Though Apple called its iPhone "revolutionary," Google's concept of how mobile phones should work make it seem as conservative as an ageing monarch. While Apple charges at least 500 dollars for a phone and a further minimum of 80 dollars in monthly subscription charges, recent reports say that Google plans to offer its phone for free.

"We turned the internet on its head and now we plan to do the same to the cellphone industry," said a Google software engineer who has been working on the project.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt more or less admitted the same in a speech he gave last November. He revealed that Google is spending hundreds of million of dollars to develop text, brand-image and video ads for small-screen mobile phones. As the power of mobile communicators increases and advertising becomes more viable, cell- phone calls will become free, he said.

That vision sent a shudder down the spine of companies like AT&T and Verizon, the dominant providers in the US. But much worse was to come.

Google last month announced that it would pay a minimum of 4.6 billion dollars for a new airwave segment being auctioned off by the US government. It made the bid conditional on regulations that would allow open access and not tie consumers into a specific phone controlled by a specific company.

When the Federal Communications Commission announced that it met many of Google's conditions, the blogosphere started buzzing.

The excitement only increased when the Wall Street Journal reported last week that Google is showing a prototype phone that could reach markets within a year, and plans to offer consumers free subscriptions by bundling advertisements with its search engine, e- mail and Web browser software applications.

"Could Google kill the cellphone industry?" asked one blogger on the CNet News network, setting off a lively discussion about the secret Google plans.

Analysts cautioned that Google's untried business model may be its downfall in the cellphone industry.

"I don't know how successful it's going to be. The model of an ad- supported wireless Web has not been successful over the past 10 years," said Jeff Kagan, an Atlanta-based telecom analyst, referring to municipal Wi-Fi networks that offer free Internet connections to users willing to view advertisements while they surf the Web.

"The average adult who can afford a cell phone is not going to want to listen to ads. So this is mainly for teenagers, twenty- somethings, high schoolers or people who can't afford a phone," Kagan said.

"There are a lot of unknowns, but generally speaking, it hasn't worked yet," he said.