"Google's first mobile phone reportedly will run a Linux operating system on a Texas Instruments "Edge" chipset, and will likely ship to T-Mobile and Orange customers in the Spring of 2008. "GPhone" call minutes and text messages will apparently be funded by mobile advertising, according to reports." The report found at the popular embedded systems Linux news site LinuxDevices.
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Member since:2005-09-17
> but will that mean the usage of teh network is free for teh subscrber?
But I mean, if it is not, so what… how much traffic does text avertising generate…
The thing, anyways, is that I do not need no frigging funding by anyone, I will pay it myself. Just give me push e-mail for all carriers and all terminals, please, like Japan has been having for ages.
Today sending an SMS in Spain costs you about 15 cents of euro. The traffic that sending an average text e-mail (let's say, with 4-5 times the number of characters) generates, costs you… what? 1 or 2 cents?
It is just about time that we kill SMS and the stupid abbreviations that go with it (NOBODY in Japan uses SMS, simply regular e-mails for years!). Of course, for operators it has been the goose that lays golden eggs, so they are not going to do that… (which in my opinion is a short-sighted dead-end loop, but anyway…)
Member since:2006-03-17
>but will that mean the usage of the network is free for the subscriber? (typos fixed ;-))
That would be great, a small monthly fee to cover the cost of the handset over a fixed term and all the free calls/web you like, let the ad spamming commence :-)
Edited 2007-08-04 02:01
Member since:2006-03-23
who knows, it may not be able to generate as much profit as what the current mobile operators generate, but it may just provide a little bit, or perhaps just provide for no losses.
remember, the prices we see today for mobile shit is 100 times more than it should be, simply because the mobile operators want a ridicoulesly high profit margin. and why shouldnt they? we happily pay, and ill bet most people dont even know they are being totally owned. They would however know if their 1 liter milk suddenly cost 10 USD..
Member since:
2005-07-13
"minutes and text messages will apparently be funded by mobile advertising"
but will that mean the usage of teh network is free for teh subscrber?
because lets face it. prduction of the phone is expensive. and assuming they dont in over the 700mhz range they will have to use other companties like T mobile or Orange towers and satelites etc.... the point is i would never have thought that online advertising alone could possibly make a profit for a product like this.
but it is google we are talking about and it seems that they are marketing genuises. i wonder hwo this will all turn out...