1. GOOGLE PHONE Victor Cortez HTM 304

2. What is it?  The Google Phone (or gPhone) is a Java/Linux based mobile phone or smartphone platform. Google Phone and gPhone are names given to a mobile phone project engineers at the search engine giant Google have been working on for the past two years.  As of March, Google had stated that releasing a cell phone was not their priority, but they already have several patents for the project.

3. The man behind  Andy Rubin is one of the primary architects behind the Google Phone.  As Google's "director of mobile platforms," Rubin oversees dozens of engineers who are developing the software at the company's sprawling campus.

4. Patents  Google has acquired several U.S. patents for the cell phone case as well as for several software and hardware applications.

5. Concept designs  Here are some artist renditions of how it may look like:

6. Talks with vendors  It is reported that Google is in talks with LG, Nokia and HTC to see who will distribute the phone.

7. Specification Speculation  It has been rumored that the Gphone will have an option of having the telephone service for no cost at all, you’ll just have to watch an advertising clip every time you want to make a call.  The specifications Google has laid out for devices suggest that manufacturers include camera for photo and video, built-in Wi-Fi technology to access the Web at hot spots and for them to be designed to work on carriers’ fastest networks, known as 3G.

8. GPay  Google has applied for a patent for a mobile payment system to complement its plans to launch the Google phone, or GPhone. Known as 'GPay', it covers a system that would let the user send a text message to Google giving the details of a payment to a specified recipient. GPay then debits the user's bank account, crediting the money to the payee.

9. Android?  Just yesterday Google held a press conference giving a demo of its mobile operating system, named Android. This name comes from the company Google acquired in 2005, but it is not known how much of the new OS comes from the company's assets.

10. Android  According to Google, the first Android-based phones should hit the market in the second half of 2008. The platform will be made available under an open-source license that will give a lot of flexibility to those who adopt it to modify its components and design services and products.  Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that Android will "create a whole new mobile experience for users with new applications and new capabilities that we couldn't imagine today."

11. Works Cited  Wikipedia.org  Taipeitimes.com  Pat2pdf.org  Pcworld.com  The Wall Street Journal