D et har länge ryktas om att Google har planer på att ge sig in på den allt hetare mobilmarknaden.

Google har nu offentliggjort sitt ambitiösa initiativ och en ny allians och Miguel Helft och John Markoff skriver i New York Times om Googles intiativ: Google Makes Its Entry Into the Wireless World

Google took its long-awaited plunge into the wireless world today, announcing that it is leading a broad industry alliance to transform mobile phones into powerful mobile computers that could accelerate the convergence of computing and communications.

Mobile phones based on Google’s software are not expected to be available until the second half of next year. They will be manufactured by a variety of handset companies, including HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung and be available in the United States through T-Mobile and Sprint.

The phones will also be available through the world’s largest mobile operator, China Telecom, with 332 million subscribers in China, and the leading carriers in Japan, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, as well as T-Mobile in Germany, Telecom Italia in Italy and Telefónica in Spain.

The 34-member Open Handset Alliance, as the group is called, also includes many of the leading makers of mobile phone chips, like Broadcom, Intel, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, as well as SiRF Technology Holdings, Marvell Technology Group, Nvidia and Synaptics. EBay (which owns the Internet calling service Skype), Nuance Communications, NMS Communications and Wind River Systems are also members of the group.

Det här är ett stort och viktigt och potentiellt revolutionerande initiativ som visar hur datorer och mobiltelefoner alltmer närmar sig varandra. Google hoppas kunna skapa nya mobila gratistjänster som kommer att hota dagens mobiljättar som ATT och Verizon.

Alla medier flyter samman och tjänsterna blir gratis, finansierade genom en allt mer närgången reklam. Hur länge dröjer det innan mobiltelefonerna och speciellt mobiltjänsterna blir gratis?

Amol Sharma och Kevin J. Delaney skriver också Wall Street Journal det viktiga nya initiativet: Google Unveils Cellphone Alliance

Google Inc. announced today an ambitious alliance with 33 handset makers, wireless carriers and other technology companies to create low-cost mobile phones based on “open” technology standards.

The Mountain View, Calif., Internet company said the new cellphone technology it is creating with its partners – which it calls Android – would enable faster development of innovative cellphone features. The platform includes several layers of software for phones, including an operating system, a user interface and applications.

Jessica E. Vascellaro skriver i Wall Street Journal om hur Googles initiativ kan komma att förändra mobilmarknaden:
What Will Google Mean to Phones? Search Titan Hopes To Entice Others to Develop Features To Exploit the Mobile Web

With its expected announcement as soon as today of the details of its ambitious plans, the Web search and advertising giant hopes to induce software companies to develop an array of new features for cellphones, from more widely available location-aware services that automatically link users to reviews of nearby restaurants to ways to almost instantly share photos with everyone in a user’s address book.

If Google succeeds at rallying developers previously turned off by the hassles of developing for mobile phones, it could open the way for consumers to start doing more easily on their phones what they can already do on the Web. Phones are also likely to become more personalized, with screens that can show customized content.

Services available on cellphones overseas but rarely or not at all in the U.S., such as multiplayer mobile games or high-definition television, could emerge. Other changes will be more subtle: Cellphones may be able to run several functions at the same time more easily, for instance.

Inte minst spännande är att amerikanska konsumenter snart kan komma att få tillgång till tjänster som ännu inte finns här i landet, som länge har legat efter resten av världen på mobilområdet.