From Rediff News: Forget iPhone, the Gphone is here

Google, the nearly $13.5 billion search engine
major, is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of
its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with
service providers in India for an exclusive launch on one of their
networks.

Talks are believed to be taking place with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, respectively India's first and third largest mobile
telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

Sources
close to the development said a simultaneous launch across the US and
Europe is expected, and announcements would be sent to media firms in
India and other parts of the world. US regulatory approval, which is
expected soon, is the only hurdle that Google is waiting to cross, they
added. Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony
foray.

In India, it is also believed to be in talks with Indian
providers to offer data and content and platforms including Instant
Messaging (IM) and Search functions. However, these could not be
confirmed.

A Google spokesperson said, "We don't comment on
market rumour or speculation. However, Google is committed to providing
users with access to the world's information, and mobile becomes more
important to those efforts every day. We're collaborating with partners
worldwide to bring Google search and applications to mobile users
everywhere. However, we have nothing to announce at this time."

Reports
of the Internet major getting into handset manufacturing as an answer
to Apple's iPhone has been doing rounds in cyberspace and international
media for some time. These reports suggest that Google has developed a
prototype that will hit the markets in a year's time. The US-based
company has neither confirmed nor denied these reports. The Wall Street
Journal too had reported that Google had invested "hundreds of millions
of dollars" in the project and was involved in discussions with
US-based T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

Globally, Google is
likely to participate in the upcoming auction for 700 MHz spectrum for
which it is prepared to spend up to $4.6 billion. The firm is also
introducing ads to YouTube videos which could be replicated on mobile
phones. Ironically, Google recently partnered Apple to produce services
such as e-mail and maps for its iPhone handset. And Eric Schmidt,
Google's chief executive, said recently that more Google services for
the iPhone would be rolled out.