I was flamed recently for saying that Google really needed to come up with its own cool handset if it wanted to kindle mainstream interest in its upcoming Android phone OS.
But Google has always said publicly that there is no “Gphone” coming.
Of course, what tech companies say publicly about unreleased products often has little relation to the truth, as TechCrunch says it has an inside source at Google who says the search giant has partnered with a design firm called Ammunition Design Group to create a Google-branded and Android-powered Gphone, and “it is a seriously beautiful device.”
(Note that the TechCrunch article also links to a separate report that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin recently publicly confirmed that the company is making its own phone, but that report seems to have been thoroughly discredited.)
TechCrunch notes that the founder of Ammunition worked in Apple’s industrial design department until 1997, and the company has done design work for Palm, H-P, Dell and others.
Here’s a concept phone that Ammunition designed for Sprint:
If I had to guess, I’d say that Google probably intends to let other handset makers release their own Android phones first.
Then six months or a year later — perhaps sooner if Android fails to take off — Google releases its official Gphone.
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