UPDATED: What Google is hiding about Android
Posted September 23, 2008 at 12:26 PM by JG Mason
Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Google
It is very easy to get caught up in all the Android excitement and possibilities this T-Mobile device offers. The gloss of this press event seems to dulling faster than a App store download. Our man Iyaz got in Google’s grill and demand answers to questions Gadgetell has over the device and what Google hopes to achieve. Last time we checked, Google is looking to make some money.
Google Maps, brought to you by Tide So, the first question is how will Google present advertising on the phone? Integration into street view and compass mode seems like a natural fit, right? When Iyaz asked a Google rep: he said, “We cannot comment on future products.“ Iyaz said back “You’re not saying no?“ His response, “I cannot comment”
This would suggest, they will not do it out of the box. How about just Google Maps? Ride along advertising? Or will they build a user base then bring in the ads when no one will part with their customized phone?
Whoa! Navigation? And further, bringing compass and streetview leaves navigation as things to accomplish for the Google Maps team. Surely, providing the search, map, direction, street view, look around compass view, isn’t harder than reading where the GPS location is and responding to its info? So what gives?
Ads in your inbox And what about Gmail? The non-mobile website shows ads, but not the mobile. It is just handy. So when do the ads come? How will they come? Will Google offer a further subsidization if you agree to accept the ads? Remember when Google said they thought the cost of phones should be subsidized by advertising? And no, I just won’t let that go.
When will Google’s play show its profit grabbing hand? Or am I just headed down the predictable conspiracy theory road? Let us know what you think in the comments.
UPDATE: Iyaz beat somebody arm wrestling and forced this bit of info out: Android will not add any ad-serving capabilities in the foreseeable future. What Google does with Gmail, Calendar, browser etc. is up for grabs.