Rumors of Google and Dell iPhone Rival

An anonymous reader writes "Speculation is mounting that Google is plotting the launch of a mobile phone in partnership with computer giant Dell. Senior industry sources claim the two companies will reveal their plans at next month's 3GSM telecoms conference in Barcelona, although Google insiders deny an announcement is due in the near future."

Competition is GOOD

Competition is Good. We're just at the beginning. (And just catching up to the Japanese!)

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(And just catching up to the Japanese!)

I always hear this, but I've never actually heard how their cell phones and service are superior. I'm not denying that they are, but can you tell me why?

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read up a few posts. The guy was eating in Tokyo and they hooked up a 3g cell phone to a laptop and had a wireless video conference call at the dinner table.

In europe desipte having massive roaming charges everyone uses GSM phones. you can take your phon

Re:Competition is GOOD

In europe desipte having massive roaming charges everyone uses GSM phones. you can take your phone anywhere, swap out your normal SIM card and put in a local prepaid one and continue on.

Ummm... wtf? We do the exact same thing here in the US. For example, when my wife needed a replacement Razr (something blew internally), I saved the SIM card and stuck it in an old Nokia we had lying around. My wife continued to use the Nokia until her new Razr arrived. I popped the SIM card in the replacement phone, and she was up and running again.

I made sure to store her phone #s to the SIM card as well, so that she would have them on the other two handsets. I backed the other data up using a USB mini cable, which I was then able to plunk into the new Razr when she got it.

We may be lagging with Japan, but I really don't understand your comparison with Europe.

Re:Competition is GOOD

You're lying on so many levels. Let us count the ways:

1. iPhone is not available in Japan because it doesn't support wCDMA/EVDO
2. iPhone can't be tethered.
3. iPhone doesn't have 3G.
4. Japan's fastest network maxes out at 2.4Mbs (and is not symmetric: 2.4 down, 144kbps up)
5. Japan doesn't use euros.

Competition at last?

Despite this most likely happening right after duke nukem forever comes out, if it does happen, it'll be a great thing to have. Right now Apple needs a rival. If they sit at the top alone with the iPhone, it won't have any incentive to get better. Google is just the company to give them this competition, and Dell's equally enormous resources will surely fuel the hardware side of the development.

Dell will lose even more money

Remember the Dell DJ?

Dell is good at selling commodity products to businesses and value consumers. When they try and move up the food chain, they don't do so well, the Alienware acquisition notwithstanding.

Because the DJ was such a success...

...and the Axim is the top currently selling pda from Dell.

Half baked and abandoned hardware - yeah, that's what I really want in a device.

Sorry, but there has got to be a better hardware vendor to choose than Dell for such a venture. Dell consumer is about high turnover and commodity parts that can be changed with the wind when prices fluctuate - not what I want in a phone builder. Doesn't Nokia or Moto want a piece of this kind of action?

They can call it..

The Googell

Thing's that you're l'ble to read in the bible...

Ain't necessarily so.

Specifically, Google has put a lot of weight behind Android [google.com]. If Google sells an 'own brand' phone - even if it's a Google/Dell own brand phone - then that kills all other Android phones stone dead, because none of the other serious mobile phone vendors will want to be using a competitor's OS. So Google, who aren't stupid, are not going to do this.

This rumour is one of two things:

• Dell are bringing out an Android phone.
• Someone is maliciously starting a rumour in an attempt to damage Android
• And an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.

Android can be multi-vendor

Look at how MS gets sack time with multiple big name vendors using Windows CE. There are many companies out there with Windows CE devices, so why not multiple Android-based systems too?

Most of the Windows phones look so similar that they are primarily Windows phones with MS-brand images being larger than the manufacturers logos etc(Ooh look! A Windows phone, I wonder who makes it). The MS/Windows brand is the strongest brand on these devices.

The first one or two Android phones will get a lot of reflected Googleshine, just like the launch of the first few MS phones.

dell isn't a technology company

I think Google should partner with a technology company to provide the hardware instead of Dell. Dell has no R&D to speak of. They take off-the-shelf parts, brand them and sell a warranty. This partnership is on a fast train to also-ran city.

But... but...

{sarcasm}
But Apple only makes niche market products! The real threat is clearly Windows Mobile...
{/sarcasm}

whatcouldpossiblygowrong? not much.

Seriously people, this tag is getting massively overused. Dell making a cell phone is not the same thing as, say, implanting neural tissue from a pig into paralyzed children or building robots with machine guns. The worst thing that could go wrong here is that Dell might make a shitty phone and lose money. BFD.

Anyone else who's sick of whatcouldpossiblygowrong abuse, please go ahead and put in a !whatcouldpossiblygowrong into the tags box.

whatcouldpossiblygowrong

Kind of OT, but could we please stop tagging articles with "whatcouldpossiblygowrong"? Aside from the fact that is stopped being funny after the 2nd or 3rd time, it kind of negates the purpose of having a tag if every single article gets the same tag.

And what could make it even better?

adding a projector into the phone...

as described by Microvision's statement that they are in talks with a major company [microvision.com]. Could you imagine a phone with a projector? I sure could... and I want one.

Im afraid of Google-phone

If I search the contact-list, I might get 100,000 matches.

Re:Hmm

You might want to sit back and have a look at this [dell.com]

Yup, Dell hardware powers Google's search appliances (a PowerEdge 2950 to be exact wit ha funky yellow bezel), Google software comes on all Dells. While that's not big deal, there's even a Dell/Google Portal [google.co.uk]. Basically, they already have a partnership.

Given that the last sentence of the linked story is incorrect - Dell currently does not manufacture its own range of handhelds - there's a good chance that there may be some flames accompanying this smoke, for the simple reason that Google aren't a hardware company. They play the tech market more like MS in that they supply software and services, but partner to build devices.

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Anyone with taste? Having said that, I have a HTC WM6 smartphone and it works pretty well because it can connect directly to our exchange server, and has a great slideout keyboard - much more useful than the touchscreen only iPhone (though my HTC device ha

Re:but does it run linux?

Anyone with taste?

Anyone with taste will tell you that experience shows that being tasteful is almost detrimental to the success of anything...

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Have you heard of these iPod thingies? You know, the ones that cost more than equivalently specced devices, but just look a bit nicer? The ones that millions of people seem to think are worth it? I certainly don't think they're worth the money, but a lot o

Re:but does it run linux?

I think the iPod's success is more to do with the user interface than the form factor.

It doesn't look that different to other mp3 players, but the incredibly simple and intuitive interface made it accessible to millions of folk who would not have put up with the UIs of other portable media devices.

Re:but does it run linux?

From the grandparent comment: It's not a Mac vs Linux thing -- as the poster above states, there are very successful Windows Mobile phones that are doing a much better job at business applications than iPhone. Blackberry and Palm are sort of run-of-the-mill these days and don't offer much more than a normal Internet-ready phone. Exchange integration is the big thing -- everyone wants their calendar anywhere, even if they don't have Internet access.

One thing I'd really like on the iPhone is a grdesktop client and ssh client. Exchange integration will make the iPhone widely accepted by businesses running Exchange, but IT guys need their tools too.

Re:but does it run linux?

I think most of us would have. Linux has always been gaining ground and improving. While Mac has made a massive comeback by making some real solid tech. MS on the other hand has just sat around making lock out tech and trying to convince everyone that anything MS did not start is a dangerous piece of hippy technology. Saying someone else sucks only works for so long before people start asking questions.

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"anything-that-plays-music" is a competitor to the ipod the same way beer is a competitor to wine. you can argue they're diferent classes of beverage, but it doesn't change the fact they're competitors.

just because apple's marketing is way more efficient a