ZOMG The Google Phone Is “Like An iPhone On Beautifying Steroids”
We told you the Google phone was confirmed. And now some Googler's seem to be confirming it, too. There is a lot of chatter on Twitter about Google employees with HTC-built unlocked Google Phones running Android 2.1.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Google phone has been a rolling rumor since 2007 — first as vague speculation about a Gphone heating up, then a prototype spotted in the wild that December, then talk of a February debut. Two weeks ago Gizmodo's source said the device was finally "a certainty" (the November 30 leak), but nothing was confirmed.
Today that changed from the inside out: TechCrunch reports Googlers tweeting about carrying an HTC-built, unlocked phone running Android 2.1, and Google's own Mobile Blog has joined in with a post titled "An Android dogfood diet for the holidays" — effectively acknowledging the device exists and is in employee hands. The story is traveling fast, with CrunchGear already calling it "this changes everything (mostly)."
First-order effects
- Google's own employees are publicly dogfooding an unlocked, HTC-built handset running Android 2.1, turning a two-year rumor into a confirmed product ahead of any formal announcement.
Second-order effects
- A Google-branded phone sold unlocked puts Google in direct competition with its own Android carrier partners and OEMs, and pressures Apple by framing the comparison explicitly — early impressions call it "an iPhone on beautifying steroids."
Third-order effects
- If Google moves from supplying mobile software to shipping reference hardware under its own brand, the Android ecosystem splits into Google-led flagship devices versus partner handsets, reshaping who controls the platform's direction.
The trend: Platform owners are moving down the stack into first-party hardware, with Google following the pattern Apple set by controlling both the software and the device.