Why the Google "Mobile Lab" Test?

Whatever else Google may want to demonstrate with its "mobile lab" test, which apparently has Google employees globally testing an Android smartphone, the company likely wants to explore and highlight the use of the mobile device as an intelligent sensor able to use voice input, location and camera features to enrich the "what's around here" features of Google's search experience.

Google first launched "search by voice" about a year ago, and "looking ahead, we dream of combining voice recognition with our language translation infrastructure to provide in-conversation translation," says Google VP Vic Gundotra.

Google recently also introduced "What's Nearby" for Google Maps on Android 1.6+ devices, available as an update from Android Market. The application returns a list of the 10 closest places, including restaurants, shops and other points of interest near a user's location. Local product inventory will be added in 2010.

Visual search also is developing, Gundotra says. A picture taken by a Google-equipped device will return relevant search results based on that visual information, including information on landmarks, works of art, and products.

"Today you frame and snap a photo to get results, but one day visual search will be as natural as pointing a finger," says Gundotra.

Google Phone Appears to be an Unlocked GSM Device

Google's rumored phone appears to be an unlocked GSM device, to be sold under its own brand name, and built by HTC, TechCrunch reports.


What seems clear enough is that Google employees are testing something. Google says it is testing something it calls a "mobile lab," said to be "a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe."

"Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet," Google says.

Google-Branded Phone Coming in January?

Rumors about a Google-designed and Google-branded smartphone have circulated over the past several years, though the company consistently had denied the reports. But the rumors are building again. TechCrunch seems to think the umors are more credible this time.

To be sure, Google repeatedly has said it is not in  the phone-making business.  “We're not making hardware,” Andy Rubin, who heads up Google Android development. “We're enabling other people to build hardware.”

Of course, some might parse the words and say that Google doesn't have to build its own phone: it simply has to commission a company that does build phones, to build one, with tightly-integrated Google control over the software load. There are many nuances to such an approach.

The device could be tightly integrated, but not Google branded. It could be Google branded but not exclusive. It could operate as an unlocked data-only device on a single air interface or several.

A Google-branded and controlled device might fly in the face of the open source nature of the operating system, which so far has featured a loosely-coupled approach.

It also might open a new and unwanted level of channel conflict with the firms that are counting on Android to power their own devices and create a robust applications business. On the other hand, such a move could be viewed as an effort to demonstrate what is possible using Android, more than anything else.

The current rumors say the device is built by HTC, is quite thin, does not have a keyboard, and uses voice recognition for virtually all apps.

Cynics might argue "leaking" rumors of a game-changing device are a time-tested way of "freezing" sales of competitive devices. And there is at least some anecdotal evidence that some potential Android sales are on hold until the rumors convincing are disproved or confirmed.

To be sure, any Google move to build a tightly-integrated device, Google branded and supported, would be a fundamental shift in approach that would imperil its effort to foster widespread use of the Android operating system by a wide range of manufacturers and service providers.

Apple is the only company in the mobility business that delivers both the hardware and software on a tightly-controlled basis.

Google Adds "Place Pages"

One simple step any business can take to become more involved with mobile-based marketing is to take advantage of "Place Pages," a new feature Google is introducing.

Basically, a Place Page is a free one-page listing any business can sign up for, and which is available to mobile and PC-based searches using Google Maps.


Retailers can create a "Place Page" by going to the Google "Local Business Center" at
http://www.google.com/local/add/analyticsSplashPage?service=lbc&gl=us&utm_source=/lbc&utm_medium=van&utm_campaign=en&hl=en-US.

Listings are free to create. Think of it as a sort of enhanced phone book whose entries pop up on a Google Map search when a user is looking for something near a physical location.

There's more. The Place Page also allows retailers to create coupons, for example. Also, an analytics feature also allows retailers to track where customers are coming from and what they search for to find a particular retail location.

Android Now 14% of Mobile Web Sessions

If you are considering creating a mobile app, the Apple iPhone and Touch still represent the single largest target.

But Android is growing fast. According to an analysis by Flurry, Android users now represent 14 percent of mobile Web sessions.

The iPhone represents 50 percent and the iPod Touch generates 35 percent of mobile Web sessions.

Android seems to be taking share from the iPhone, but not from the Touch.

Americans are Happy with their Products and Services, Sort Of

A new study by the Government Accountability Office suggests 84 percent of U.S. wireless users are "very" or somewhat" satisfied with their wireless phone service. That isn't to say there are no issues: there are.

The GAO says 10 percent of users are "dissatisfied" with their service. About 12 percent say they are dissatisfied with billing, 14 percent are dissatisfied with terms of service, 11 percent unhappy with call quality and 12 percent dissatisfied with customer service.

But 76 percent of respondents are satisfied with billing; 72 percent satisfied with terms of service, 85 percent satisfied with call quality and 70 percent satisfied with customer service.

In terms of complaints received by the Federal Communications Commission from end users, 55,000 were unhappy with billing and rates. About 14,000 were unhappy with call quality, 13,000 complained about contract early termination issues and 12,000 were unhappy with customer service, GAO says.

In terms of complaints, billing issues were more than 400 percent more common that complaints about call quality, contract termination or customer service.

In some ways, in fact, the GAO study suggests a higher degree of satisfaction with wireless service than other surveys might suggest. The American Consumer Satisfaction Index, which ranks consumer satisfaction on a scale running from zero to 100, with 100 being the top score, might suggest less happiness, not only with wireless, but also with cable TV and satellite service, with declining scores for wired voice service.

Did U.S. Consumer Communications Spending Hold Up in 2009?

We will have to wait a while for 2009 figures to be compiled, but history suggests that, when the figures are available, U.S. consumer spending on communications will come in about where it always does, at about 2.3 percent of disposable income.

The reason is that, year in and year out, during booms or recessions, that is what U.S. consumers have spent on communications. The composition of spending changes: more for mobile, more for broadband, less for other services. But as a percentage of disposable income, behavior is remarkably consistent.