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Google said yesterday that it would offer a software system to make the internet work as smoothly on mobile phones as it does on computers.
In its long-rumoured entry into the mobile phone market, Google said it would start next week by allowing independent designers to tinker with its software, known as "Android." Google-based phones are due to appear in the latter half of next year.
Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile will start selling Google software-based phones next year.
China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier, Japan's NTT DoCoMo and KDDI and European and Latin American operator Telefonica also said they were working with handset makers to develop Google-based phones.
Google, which has no immediate plans to make phones of its own, said it forged an alliance with 33 companies, including phone makers Motorola, Samsung Electronics and High Tech Computer.
"We're hoping thousands of different mobile phones will be powered by Android," Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told reporters on a conference call following the announcement.
Google said it was in no rush to see operators alter the way they charge for service, but new ways of making money such as advertising-subsidised offerings would eventually be possible.
"Let's put the technology enablers in place and figure out how to monetise it later," said Andy Rubin, the official in charge of Google's mobile phone push.
"You won't see a completely ad-driven cellphone on this system for some time," he said during a company news conference.
Since Google was offering the software for free, Rubin said operators might pass along something like 10 per cent savings to customers through phone subsidies or lower monthly fees.
Google was looking to strike revenue-sharing deals with carriers who agreed to lower monthly data charges, expanding the potential audience for use of the web on phones, Rubin said.
Google said it aimed to expand the web services it now offered for computer browsers to the far-larger mobile phone market, where internet use is hobbled by conflicting handset designs and software standards.
The move pits Google against mobile operating systems backed by Nokia, Microsoft and Google partner Apple, maker of the iPhone.
Many of Google's partners said they would still work with rival systems. Traditionally, network operators tightly control the software and services customers can use on their phones and often get a hefty cut of resulting revenue from third parties.
By contrast, Google said Android did not differentiate between a phone's core functions - typically pre-installed by handset makers or network operators - and any independently created applications added by customers later. Research firm Strategy Analytics estimated Android would be in 2 per cent of smartphones in 2008. Smartphones are expected to be only 6 per cent of the total US phone market this year, according to Yankee Group.
"The potential is there for this to be a game-changing development, but it remains to be seen," said Greg Sterling, an internet industry analyst with Opus Research.
"This is a set of tools that have to be turned into something."
Google and its backers said they aimed to bring the innovation made possible on computers online to phones, allowing millions of programmers to mix and match products with other software. Online auction leader eBay said it hoped to make it easier to buy or sell goods and services on such phones.
Rubin, a veteran Silicon Valley gadget designer, said Android would also work offline, allowing air travellers to, say, check address books mid-flight.
He created the innovative Sidekick mobile internet device at start-up Danger.
Google has long been rumoured to be working on a new class of free or low-cost ad-supported phone of its own, known as the "Gphone."
CEO Schmidt would not rule out Google's developing its own devices, but said it had no immediate plans to do so. The company said its Open Handset Alliance, would be like an "open source" software project, with no central leadership.
- Reuters
