Google and Oracle’s current legal battle has unearthed some very interesting pictures. Apparently in 2006 (two years before the release of the T-Mobile G1) Google pitched the “Google Phone” (shown above) to carriers.
Google seems to have concentrated its efforts on getting T-Mobile on board. Slides emphasize how Google’s expertise combined with T-Mobile’s unlimited data plan would be a powerful combination. The search giant even contemplated subsidizing the unlimited data plan to $9.99 a month for users.
This Google Phone would not have been much of a powerhouse specs wise. The slides mention an ARMv9 processor of at least 200MHz, GSM (3G preferred), 64MB of RAM and ROM, miniSD external storage, a 2-megapixel camera, USB support, Bluetooth 1.2, and a QVGA display with at least 16-bit color support.
The purpose of the phone was to allow customers to use Google services on the go. Slides mention Google Talk, Gmail, Calendar, MMS, and POP email all being available on the device.
It seems T-Mobile liked most of the big ideas in Google’s pitch. As Google and the carrier released the first Android phone in the US (the G1) two years later. Of course the specs of the device and Android as an OS had drastically evolved in that time. It is hard to remember that the immensely popular and powerful mobile OS we know as Android had such humble beginnings.
Source: The Verge
