Google may be preparing to step up its involvement in the mobile hardware business. A report suggests that the company is looking to produce a Google branded smartphone; one that will not bear the Nexus name. The idea is that Google is preparing to go head-to-head with the iPhone.
A move into smartphone manufacturing is not entirely out of the question of Mountain View, considering that it already builds several devices on its own. However, moving to directly compete with other premium quality phones may put Google in unfamiliar waters. The company has traditionally left hardware engineering for its Nexus devices to other manufacturers like HTC and Huawei. Being content with supplying software side support for its homegrown brand.
The report from the Telegraph suggests that Google is concerned about the fragmented state of the Android OS; and that it may need to take matters into its own hands. Unlike Apple’s iOS, Android version deployments are left completely up to manufacturers. As this also includes updates to new versions, it has left the eco-system littered with obsolete versions of the operating system floating around and refusing to go away. The situation only makes it more difficult for developers to create apps for that eco-system.
Google has declined to comment on the report. It is unlikely that anything else will come from this report in the near future, but it might be worth keeping an eye on Google’s moves with network operators. Considering that these will be the first to be in talks with the company about getting a new phone out to the public.
[Source: The Telegraph]
