Just as the creatively overhauled Google interface for the Apple iPhone was heralded as the search company “practising” for their own Android platform, the news that Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo is considering using Google-powered search and email functionality in their own handsets will likely be viewed as further evidence of paving the way for 2008’s gPhones. Sources quoted in the Nikkei business daily claimed that from as early as Spring DoCoMo subscribers with compatible handsets will be able to access their Google-based email, calendar, photos and searches through the i-mode network.
“We are currently studying the possibility of an alliance in search services with domestic or overseas partners, but nothing has been decided yet”
DoCoMo is already a member of the Open Handset Alliance, and according to the Nikkei 2008 will see further collaboration between Google and the carrier in developing service and technology beyond the relatively straightforward access to web searches that rival networks offer. Part of this will include releasing handsets based on the Android platform, and although it is not known which OEM manufacturer DoCoMo will look to for the technology, fellow OHA members Samsung and LG have both provided cellphones for them in the past.The news has seen NTT DoCoMo’s ailing share price re-energised, after a period of several months where new subscriber figures lagged compared to rivals. Nomura Securities analyst Daisaku Masuno also suggested that data-based revenue would also benefit from a DoCoMo/Google alliance, as users spent more time accessing internet-based services on their handsets.
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