Google phone rumors hit new heights

Ready for a new “it” phone? As currently rumored, the Google “GPhone” — new details of which turned up in a series of reports online last week — not only signals a new entrant in the wireless market but a potentially market-changing one.

The phone will reportedly launch in Q1 2008, feature several models and be manufactured by HTC. The feature-set that emerged last week includes:

• A Linux-based operating system, with a user interface rendered in Java (as well as the ability to run Java applications).
• The ability to play multimedia files, including MP3s and videos.
• A Web browser based either in Java or Safari WebKit, the same code as the browser on Apple's iPhone.
• Software including a GPS-enabled Google Maps and the full suite of Google's applications, including Gmail and Calendar as well as Google Docs.
• A physical qwerty keypad rather than a software-based keyboard like the iPhone.

It's important to stress that these GPhone specs remain rumors — and that Google declined to comment on the speculation.

What's maybe even more intriguing, however, is what still remains open to speculation. Will the phone be strongly advertising-driven, either via text ads or more likely by ad-based integration into mobile Google Maps? And will the phone feature standard cellular-based voice calling, or will it instead — like a non-AT&T-activated iPhone — focus more on VoIP-over-Wi-Fi services, perhaps using the search giant's own Google Talk software?