New Google Phone to rival Blackberry and Apple iPhone?

Though best known for their pioneering search engine technology, Google have their digits in many slices of the internet pie. From mapping the planet with Google Earth to online movie clips with Google Video, not to mention more obscure developments emanating from Google labs, such as Google Mars and Google Ride Finder, the search engine king is certainly not afraid of exploring new areas of technology.

One of the most hotly speculated Google offshoots is the somewhat mythical Google Phone. Bigmouthmedia first reported on the Google Phone in December 2006, but since then, Google has remained tight lipped on the subject.

However, in a new development, Isabel Aguilera, head of Google's Spanish and Portuguese operation, has publicly acknowledged that Google is "investigating" the development of a mobile phone that works as a portable internet access device. In reply to this, Erin Fors, a spokeswoman for Google HQ in the US responded with a short statement:

"Mobile is an important area for Google and we remain focused on creating applications and establishing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide. However, we have nothing further to announce."

Despite Google's reluctance to speak further on the matter, the mobile industry blogosphere is buzzing with Google Phone talk and Richard Windsor, phone analyst with London based Nomura, recently told clients at a major European conference in Germany that an unspecified Google representative had confirmed that the company is working on its own phone device.

Adding fuel to the Google Phone fire, a venture Capitalist with Boston based Polaris Venture Partner, Simeon Simeonov, wrote on a blog that an inside source close to Goggle had informed him that the company is developing a slick low-cost, internet-connected phone with a colour, wide-screen design that would rival the Blackberry and Apple's iPhone, and which could handle VOIP (voice over the internet calls). However, in contrast to the Blackberry and iPhone, the Google Phone is expected to be a mass-market device aimed at bringing Google to users who don't have a PC, rather than being a high end luxury phone.

Despite's Google's huge successes in the internet business, some within the mobile phone industry don't believe that Google's success in the PC search world will translate well into the mobile search world. Finnish mobile giant Nokia believe the Google Phone will meet with limited success because Google lacks the necessary relationships within the phone industry that are required to compete with the already established mobile phone leaders.

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