Google denies gPhone rumours, introduces Android instead…

A very important message came out today via YouTube from Google’s CTO Sergey Brin with an aim to shift focus from the non-existent gPhone to a much larger and important innovation dubbed “Android”. What the heck is Android? Essentially it’s Google’s new open-source mobile platform which will very likely revolutionize and completely democratize the mobile world. Google is following in GoldCorp’s successful “GoldCorp Challenge” initiative by launching the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in awards — no strings attached — for great mobile applications built on the Android platform. That’s right, Google’s R&D department now encompasses all the programmers in the world.

Marketers start your engines! If you haven’t considered mobile channels yet, now is the time.

Blackberry, iPhone, now Google Phone…what’s next?

Rumor: Google Phone Confirmed By HTC Insider – Gizmodo

By the looks and sounds of it, the new Google Phone is bound to be a hit. Will it replace the Blackberry in corporate/government cubicles? Perhaps. Let’s hope Google is more realistic with the price tag than the good folks at Apple have been with the iPhone in the U.S.

Personally, I would love to get my hands on one, being the tech junkie that I am. However, before widespread use of these new gizmo’s, I would highly recommend some intensive “tech gizmo” etiquette training as a mandatory requirement in major organizations. I am disgusted by the addiction to the Blackberry that I witness everyday here in Ottawa. The most engaging conversation an individual can have is still and always will be with another live human being in front of them (all the senses are working). Anything that takes away from that (such as eyes gazing at a vibrating Blackberry or thumbs firing away during a presentation), is rude and detrimental to interpersonal relationship building.

That being said, I see huge potential in this new gizmo from Google. Incorporating a Linux based OS and features such as Google Maps and Google Reader along with a wide myriad of other Google applications already out there will allow for significant economies of scope (essentially meaning lower cost of production for Google, thus lower selling price for the consumer).

So what does this mean to public sector marketers? You will have a new toy to play with that will allow you to cut-back on your e-mail and internet browsing time by streamlining multiple applications into one nicely packaged product. Let’s hope it works.