By Allen Tsai | Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:45 am |
Google has designed a smartphone it plans to sell direct to consumers as soon as next year, in a strategic move to bypass wireless carriers and challenge rival Apple.
But unlike current Google phones made by handset manufacturers, the Internet search giant designed virtually the entire software experience on the new device -- called "Nexus One" -- from the applications that run on it to the look and feel of each screen.Google employees have begun testing a version of the new handset in recent days, as the company seeks feedback before offering it to the public. "We got the new Google phone," said a Google worker wrote on social networking site Twitter. "It's beautiful." Google is taking a new, and potentially risky, approach to selling smartphones. Rather than offering handsets through carriers -- the way most phones are sold in the U.S. -- it plans to sell the Nexus One itself online. Consumers will then have to subscribe to a carrier themselves. The move could alienate wireless operators and handset makers that offer Android phones, but Google hopes to gain access to valuable consumer data it can then use to sell ads at premium prices -- instead of making money from direct hardware sales. Google's Android phones have recently won the attention of the mobile industry, with Motorola, Sony Ericsson and even PC maker Dell choosing it to power their new high-end smartphones -- such as the Motorola Droid and Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. Last week, research firm IDC reported that Android's market share rose to 5.4 percent from 4.2 percent in the third quarter for Western Europe, a key market.
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