Google Phone

Earlier this week Google launched an update for their Maps Mobile cellphone software which uses cell tower triangulation to estimate your position; called Assisted-GPS (or “My Location” in Google-speak), the potential privacy concerns came under the microscope of NYT journalist Saul Hansell.  One of Google’s PR team, Barry Schnitt, took issue with Hansell’s description of the software as “secretly” collecting the GPS data from compatible handsets to augment the service’s accuracy, pointing - as we did - to the Privacy Policy.

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Will they/won’t they speculation has flourished since Google first made overtures towards the FCC with regards the 700MHz spectrum auction in January, and now the Wall Street Journal is claiming [registration required] that the search company’s participation is set to crank up a gear with a statement announcing their intent to bid expected on Friday.  The auction - for a slice of the wireless spectrum commonly described as “beach front” because of its rich support for high-speed data networks - demands a statement of intent to be declared by the 3rd December; previously analysts have been unsure whether Google intends to invest or merely push through the open-access provisos that would make competition in the cellular industry more straightforward.

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Edit: HTC tell us that this meeting never took place, and are denying that TouchFLO will necessarily make an appearance on the gPhone.  See update at the end of the article.

With developers seemingly hiding underneath their keyboards and rival hardware manufacturers and networks apparently on an hiatus of Android criticism, we’re left desperately seeking out crumbs of handset news from key players such as HTC.  Executive Style’s Adam Turner resorted to inviting HTC exec John Featherstone on a coffee date to try to prise further details out regarding the company’s cellphone plans; obviously he didn’t buy him a biscotti, as Featherstone would only confirm that the TouchFLO interface “could” be ported to Android and be included in the first wave of devices.

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An update to Google’s Maps for Mobile service, which is currently available as a free download to compatible cellphones and has formed a flagship part of most Android demos to-date, adds the company’s own version of Assisted-GPS that uses both cell towers and other users handsets to triangulate your position.  In a product demo with the NY Times, division manager Steve Lee revealed that the software relies on unsecured GPS hardware in cellphones and other devices to identify and accurately locate individual cell towers:

“Google figures out which cell towers are where by secretly enlisting the help of a million of its mobile maps users who happen to have phones with built-in GPS devices that are not locked by the carriers (that means no one who uses Verizon). These phones have been reporting to Google where they are, based on the GPS data and what cell tower they are connected to” Saul Hansell, NY Times

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Open-source development continues to figure strongly on Google’s agenda, as for the forth year running the company kicks off its “Summer of Code” contest.  The project - which is open to young people over 13 who are yet to begin university studies - encourages participation in any of ten different open-source projects, including Apache, GNOME and Python.  Curiously absent, however, is any sign of the Android platform; given the current $10m prizefund for app developers, it seems strange that none of the projects included in the competition have a particularly mobile-focus.

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Although the carriers might not want you to play with it, many cellphones on the market today have at least fledgling compatibility with VoIP protocols.  Significantly absent from the Android OS, however, are the SIP and IMS stacks that facilitate IP-based call initiation and quality-of-service management.  It’s an omission that has led some to question Google’s intent toward non-traditional communication on Android-powered handsets, and others to suggest that the future of VoIP standards is not so tied-up as some of the companies already using SIP/IMS might claim.

“Maybe Google wants to replace SIP and IMS — or subsume them within Android. By leaving these standards out, Google can position Android as the default platform for mobile devices and once it gets its fingers around the carriers from the device side, it can then take over the ecosystems for SIP and IMS and move the service providers onto these systems — or whatever technology Google positions in their place” Stephen Wellman, InformationWeek

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In a move many are suggesting is a response to Android and Google’s push for open-access on cellular networks, Verizon Wireless announced that they would be opening up to any device or software that “meets the minimum technical standards”.  While traditionally Verizon - and other telcos - have been protective about their network, customising devices carefully so as to prevent unauthorised use or modification, from early next year a set of technical standards will be released so as to guide the development community.  At the same time, CDMA devices (either newly created or brought over from rival network Sprint) will be activated on the Verizon Wireless network.

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It seemed such a straightforward idea (even if Scoble disliked it): launch a new mobile platform based on an historically fan-fuelled OS, emphasise the “phone of the people” credentials and then offer a sizable financial reward for developing new applications for it all.  But it seems that Google’s $10m moneybox might have had the opposite effect; rather than encourage new ideas, the thought of helping somebody else win a share of the fund has made expert programmers clam up:

“The fact there is close to $300,000 on the line for winning projects is making most people think twice about sharing stuff with the community. PHP-like documentation with associated user contributed code would make developing on the Android platform a dream — unfortunately there is no such thing. Unless you are an experienced Java programmer with the skills to interpret the provided documentation without extra code to look at, there is a good chance you are out of luck” Garett Rogers, ZDNet

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As the many thousands of people who have Google as their homepage already know, search can be as simple as a box on a page.  Mobile search, however, requires something of a paradigm shift; no matter how glossy the UI, tactile the interface or clever the design, emulating desktop search on a cellphone is a frustrating, scroll-heavy experience.  Sarah Lipman, of interface design company Power2B, discusses the demands for a semantically-linked, three-dimensional mobile search environment in an article for MEX today, resolving in what she calls “mesh connectivity vs. linearity” - where search navigation is guided one step at a time through a series of clarifying options.

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Although there’s nobody claiming that Google has build a platform and an alliance of companies with the expectation that they’ll fail, more people are switching on to the fact that the search giant needn’t necessarily sweep the handset board with Android in order to come out near the top.  As they’ve done in the 700MHz spectrum auction - pushing the FCC to include contract clauses for open-access that will benefit Google no matter whether they win (or even bid) or not - the sheer threat of Android is likely to force rival manufacturers and OS designers to step up their game and, Frank Hayes of TechNewsWorld believes, mimic some of the third-party applications and polished web experience their new competitor is promising.

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