Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Rumors, iPhone
Googlephone OS with Webkit based browser?
There have been rumors circulating the 'net about a supposed Googlephone OS. Now well-known blogger Om Malik claims to have found have discovered five facts about the mythical beast. One of the most interesting is the possibility that the Googlephone's web browser will be based on WebKit, the renderer at the heart of Safari on both the desktop and the iPhone. In the end, though, it seems unlikely that the iPhone itself will be much threatened by the Googlephone even if it does appear, since the latter looks to have a much more conventional UI and qwerty thumb-board based interface. Nonetheless, given how closely Apple and Google seem to be working these days, it would be interesting if Google were enter into direct competition with Apple in the smartphone space. In the end, though, this more about Google and Microsoft, where a possible Googlephone OS would butt heads with Windows Mobile 6, and perhaps presage the long-rumored Google desktop OS.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jon said 5:49PM on 9-04-2007
The Googlephone (if it ever sees the light of day) would probably have a unique pricing model, which could make it more appealing that the iPhone. The reason why Google's stuff is so popular is that most of it is free for the consumer, with them having to put up with targeted text ads which aren't *too* obtrusive when compared with other advertising methods, and sometimes I actually find them useful.
I know Google had said it would put in a bid for spectrum licensing if the rules were freed up a little, and I would very much like to see what they bring to the table and how the other networks react.
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henrrik said 6:16PM on 9-04-2007
Nokia's Series 60 phones also use Webkit. Seems Mozilla's Gecko is tough to shoehorn into a phone.
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Chris said 8:44PM on 9-04-2007
WebKit? I have trouble using Safari with Google's online apps. Calendar always scrolls to the very top after I make a change, and there are other Google Apps that don't support Safari. If Google is using WebKit then the modifications they'd make to it would be appreciated. Otherwise, what about Mobile Opera?
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Ryan said 9:02PM on 9-04-2007
"Nonetheless, given how closely Apple and Google seem to be working these days"
I always see people saying this...but like how are they perceived to be working together? So there is a youtube app on the iPhone, but there was mobile youtube released prior to the iPhone for other phones. And they share people on each others boards, just seems like rich people getting richer to me. And like said above google apps are still flaky with Safari (beta included).
I'm not trying to troll, I just feel like I'm missing something major here :-/
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Kras said 1:38AM on 9-05-2007
I am SO waiting for the day when another OS will give Windows Mobile a good run for its money - and, finally, a deservingly good kick in the backside!
Many of us corporate folks don't have the choice of taking on another smartphone platform (i.e. Series 60). But, in more recent times, the barriers are slowly starting to come down...
A web-based OS is a probable future - and something like a Google-based interface on hardware devices, which would eventually run the many applications both consumers and business people take for granted, would definitely transcend into the "preferred" group of mobile devices.
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Amit Bhowmik said 2:25AM on 9-05-2007
The Gphone rumours are plenty on the web. But what's that one KILLER feature which will reeeally want us to buy one??
Check my views on this - http://techtrod.wordpress.com/2007/09/04/the-gphone-whats-the-killer-feature
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henrrik said 3:41AM on 9-05-2007
Safari's JavaScript engine is/has been missing some key stuff that is required by a number web applications, e.g. WYSIWYG editors like Google Docs, FCKeditor and TinyMCE.
Hopefully the final version of Safari 3.0 resolves this.
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