Google employees claiming to possess the mythical Google Phone
The Google Phone has become the stuff of mythical legend, but if messages going out on Twitter last night from Google employees are to be believed, it’s real, and it’s coming soon.
TechCrunch is reporting that Google employees last night were setting Twitter on fire with messages that they had just been given an unlocked Google Phone at a company party. The messages indicated that it was running Android 2.1, and the adjectives to describe it were running in the range of “beautiful”, “slick” and so on. In short, if these reports are real, and not some form of orchestrated Twitter prank which has been known to happen, then the phone is real, and it sounds like a killer device. (Please note that the picture at the top of this post is an artist’s rendering that has floated around the Internet for eons.)
The Google Phone, also known as the GPhone, has been rumored for years now, dating back to before the release of the G1 from T-Mobile. After the release of the G1 the talk of an actual GPhone quieted down as everyone just thought Android would be slapped into devices for carriers and that would be it. However, over the past few months the rumors have cropped up again with suggestions that the GPhone may not even have regular cell phone service and might just be a device that runs in the open using Google Voice for phone calls. None of the Tweets mentioned this, so that aspect is still unknown.
Some of the descriptions made it sound like the phone seen last night was a new model of phone from HTC called Passion. If this is true, then it sounds like we may have been duped again. Unless these reports are wrong, it sounds like we may have another G1 situation on our hands and it is just an early gift of an HTC phone.
It is also notable that no one posted photos of the phone, so we really have no clue what we are dealing with. Here are the Tweets that set off the maelstrom:
Stuck in mass of traffic leaving work post last all hands of 2009. ZOMG we had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. It’s beautiful
A friend from Google showed me the new Android 2.1 phone from HTC coming out in Jan. A sexy beast. Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.
And the most prolific source of information, Jason Howell
…I just had my hands on the Google Phone. I feel so priveleged
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The new Google Phone runs on HTC hardware. I saw it w/ Android 2.1. Homescreen has new visual enhancements like animated desktop wallpaper.
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Supposedly we should start hearing a lot about the new Google phone over the next few days. Its slick in an HTC hero sorta way
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Wasn’t able to gander @ h/w specs unfortunately. Supposedly, Google employees were given tons of these phones today. unlocked.
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It was thin. Dare I say as if not a bit thinner than iPhone. Scrolly ball like on the hero. This one was running on AT&T.
It’s hard to say what exactly happened last night, but if it is the true GPhone at long last, the cell phone landscape could be changing very soon.
Update: Google has now confirmed they handed out a phone last night to their employees. Things are getting a lot more interesting.
