Google did not show off an actual Google phone today, but instead the company released details about a free, open mobile phone software package.
“The package will allow Google to easily serve ads and services to people who aren’t sitting at their computer, The Associated Press reported. According to “Google's software looms as a significant threat to other mobile operating systems made by Microsoft Corp., Research In Motion Ltd., Palm Inc. and Symbian, which is owned by Nokia Corp. and several other major phone makers.”
Unlike the iPhone from Apple, Google will not be making a physical phone, and at this point it does not seem that Google will put it’s logo onto new or existing devices.
“Instead, it will work with four cell phone manufacturers who have agreed to use Google's programs in their handsets. Consumers will have to buy a new phone to get the Google software because the bundle was not made for existing handsets,” according to the AP.
For Newspapers
Phones with Google software will not be available until the second half of 2008, leaving newspapers at least a few months to figure out how to fit in.
One of the most idea-packed paragraphs for newspapers came from The Wall Street Journal this morning (emphasis added):
"The Web search and advertising giant hopes to induce software companies to develop an array of new features for cellphones, from more widely available location-aware services that automatically link users to reviews of nearby restaurants to ways to almost instantly share photos with everyone in a user's address book…. And because open software can make it easier to tap the Internet from a cellphone, developers say Google's push is expected to boost the amount of content they can provide to mobile users."
It seems that now would be a good time to really ramp up your newspaper’s search engine optimization, maybe embed Google maps with all your events calendar and venue reviews. If you don’t yet have a mobile site for your newspaper, get cracking!
Now might also be a good time to sit back and dream. Imagine what your newspaper could create with advances in GPS technology, Google Maps mash-ups, AdWords, your newspaper’s reviews of restaurants or movies, user-contributed reviews and more.
If a newspaper really jumped on this, a person could walk past that new restaurant down the street and instantly find out if it’s any good, what’s on the menu, how expensive it is, the hours of operation and a coupon for a free appetizer – all with newspaper-based content from the newspaper’s local guide and reviews section. Not feeling like Thai? Keep walking….
But Steve Yelvington of Morris DigitalWorks doesn't seem to think even that is going far enough for newspapers. In an e-mail conversation late this afternoon, he wrote:
"If we look at this and see nothing more than another way to distribute our news and ads, we'll be missing the entire point.
"Android is an open platform. That means it will give birth to startlingly new kinds of services. A lot of that is going to involve local information. Whether newspapers will play a part in that evolution depends on our ability to think in terms of consumer needs and technology answers.
"The Android announcement is a challenge to newspapers: Have we learned anything at all in the last dozen years? Or will we repeat our old mistakes, doing nothing more than cramming old products into new packages?"
Resources on Mobile for Newspapers:
All Aboard: Cell phones and other mobile devices offer newspapers and advertisers new ways to reach readers on the go (Presstime Magazine, Summer 2007)
NAA Mobile Webinar: Growing Mobile, Growing Newspapers (October 2007)
Mobile and Newspapers (The Editors Weblog, February 2007)
Going Mobile Report (Online Publishers Association, March 2007)
Notable Quote
"This is a shot that is going to be heard around the world, but it's just the first shot in what is going to be a very protracted battle in the next frontier of the mobile Web," said Michael Gartenberg, a Jupiter Research vice president in the Associated Press article.
More Info
For more info on the Google mobile platform, see this Google Blog entry from today: Where’s My Gphone?