The 'Google Phone' To Become a Reality

December 14, 2009 11:28 AM EST
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) plans to sell a cellphone directly to consumers as soon as early next year.

The Google phone, that has been named Nexus One, will be initially sold without being tied to a wireless carrier. This is the latest move by Google to expand its Internet services beyond computers and will put the phone in direct competition with the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, which is currently locked into an exclusive deal with AT&T (NYSE: T).

The phone will initially be sold online by Google itself. This will inevitably impact the cost to the device, as most phones are offered with deep discounts through the signing of a wireless contract. Google has not released a price for the Nexus One, or a list of countries that the phone will initially be offered in.

The phone is currently being tested by employees throughout the company as they want to "experiment with the new mobile device features and capabilities," according to a statement on Google's official blog.

Currently the Android operating system that will be offered on the Nexus One is offered on devices for 32 wireless carriers, including Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp and T-Mobie USA Inc.

These companies that have been wooed to carry the Android devices since its announcement in 2007 could potentially be offended by Google distributing its own mobile device.

The Nexus One is speculated to be thinner than the iPhone, with an OLED touch screen, few buttons and dual microphones. HTC Corp. is rumored to be the manufacturer of the phone, which was the maker of the first Android phone, the G1.

Shares of Google are up 0.72 percent to $595 in early market trading.

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