Monday, November 05, 2007

Google Goes Mobile

It's official - after months of speculation about a possible "Google Phone" (gPhone?), it has been announced that they are launching an Operating System for mobile phones. This will be in direct competition with the already established names like "Microsoft, Research in Motion, Palm and Symbian". However, one major factor that will affect phone manufacturers choice will be cost. In the best traditions of Google, they are providing their software "to handset makers free of charge". I don't know how much manufacturers pay for the likes of Windows Mobile, but you can bet the cost gets passed on (one way or another) to the end user - you and me. Will the free OS reduce costs for end-users, thus sparking a price war? Or will someone (or everyone) in the chain just increase their profit margins?

I wonder how well it will work with Windows. I have been using a Windows Mobile device for little over 6 months (and for a year about 3 years ago). I love the way you can synchronise it with Microsoft Outlook. However, I am also a fan of Google products. I have been using Gmail for a few years and have used Google Calendar, though since I've been unable to find a truly successful way of synchronising that with my Windows Mobile phone, I've abandoned it in favour of just using Outlook (I haven't had much success with RemoteCalendars, OggSync, gSyncIt or ScheduleWorld - but that story's for another day!). Perhaps this explains why Google haven't rushed to get their calendar to synchronise with Outlook? I would be very surprised if Google's new OS couldn't synchronise Google Calendar to an off-line version on the phone!

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