For the uninitiated, Google’s foray into the mobile market hasn’t come with a specific device, but rather with an entire operating system, Android.
Several tech companies have already built phones that run on Android, including T-Mobile’s G1 and Motorola’s Droid, which recently got a high-profile launch that positioned the device against Apple’s mighty iPhone.
But to date, Google itself hasn’t built an actual phone to run its mobile OS in the way it best sees fit. That will change in 2010 when Google releases a mobile device that bears its brand.
The advent of a major competitor for the iPhone bodes well for adult, because Apple persists in banning adult content from its App Store. Although Google forbids adult content from its own applications store, called Marketplace, adult developers can still promote adult apps elsewhere.
According to leading tech analyst Michael Arrington, Google had originally planned to release a phone in time for the 2009 holiday season, but that date got pushed back to early 2010. A Korean manufacturer, such as LG or Samsung, will most likely produce the phone.
In addition, Google will maintain strict control over the branding and delivery of the device. Other devices that run on Android do so with fractured, compromised or otherwise incomplete versions of the OS. That won’t happen with this device.
“Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be,” Arrington said.