Mobile Radio Simplified. Accessible. Relevant.

They are anything but. Google has dedicated a wing of it’s vast resources into doing roughly the same thing Apple did with the iPhone. By this time next year it will all be very clear, and you can get a phone with Google apps preloaded and ready to go. The WSJ has chronicled Googles plans pretty well. (permalink)

My take here as we consider their work in light of the fourth speaker philosophy, is that this validates our point that phone apps need to be pre-loaded to actually get used. That is why we are working on getting content to phones without the need for apps of any kind. I also believe, as do others cited in the WSJ article, that they are headed down a road already proven by ESPN to be disappointing. A phone with niche apps can isolate a market just as easily as it can expand one. We’ll see.

The recurring theme we enjoy seeing constantly revalidated appears in the article as well…

The Mountain View, Calif., company has made clear it is serious about developing advanced software and services for cellphones. “What’s interesting about the ads in the mobile phone is that they are twice as profitable or more than the nonmobile phone ads because they’re more personal,” said Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt

Building a future where ads are heavily noise-reduced is our passion. Mobile users deserve relevant offers and an unprecedented level of control over thier own programming.

One more thing…
Eric, if you are listening, please make sure your new phones have one of those cool things called a headphone jack. Many recent handsets have forgotten this feature.