The AdPhone is consistent with the emphasis of Google’s business, which is selling advertising to third parties, using us as the appeal (“Advertise with Google and you will have access to potential customers interested in YOUR business, customers using the full range of Google’s services and even our new AdPhone.”)

Because advertising is Google’s core business, IMHO Google won’t ever get into businesses other than what they are experts at: Internet advertising.

I suspect the Nexus 1 is a very small experiment into branching out, but I also suspect that Google is now saying “Screw this.” LOL. I don’t think Google is inclined to stray into other industries, especially those that require significant levels of customer service, which handset sales and carrier service would require.

Wireless services would require Google to operate with its pants pulled down, so to speak. Google does not operate that way. It is a fact that Google operates in a very secretive manner. (Its AdSense program has been heavily criticized because Google makes it impossible to contact them for any reason. You can’t e-mail or call them. If you go to your AdSense account page Google does not provide any way to meaningfully contact them.)

Selling phone and wireless services would be a nightmare for Google because among others, that would put govt. regulators watching Google’s every move. They don’t need or want that headache (look what happened with the current flap over the ETF fees).

So I don’t see Google opening themselves up to additional scrutiny, hassles and headaches (that come from dealing with the public).

Also, does anyone have any evidence that getting into the wireless industry is a great move nowadays? I suspect not. To me this is a good time to fold up one’s tent and put one’s money into something else.

There’s a price war between the big boys, handset sales are way down, the economy sucks so people are tightening belts and there’s uncertainty on who will end up where.

I dunno about you, but it looks to me like buying a wireless service is like getting a dog with lots of fleas. This is a time for Google to say “Hell no, go away, I’m not interested,” unless Google could buy T-Mo at 10 cents on the dollar of its value.

So that’s it, the industry sucks, Google knows nothing about running a wireless company, and they would be getting into an area completely foreign to what they are experts at.

Google is best served by sticking to what they know.

Look at the user agreements you digitally sign when you use anything that Google provides for free, such as YouTube, Google Earth, Search, Chrome, etc. Here is an example of Chrome:

Information website operators receive when you visit a site using Google Chrome
___________

Sites that you visit using Google Chrome will automatically receive standard log information similar to that received by Google. These sites may also set their own cookies or use web storage on your machine…

Information stored on your computer when you use Google Chrome
____________

Google Chrome records useful information about your browsing history. This includes:

•Basic browsing history information: the URLs of pages that you visit, a cache file of text from those pages, and a list of some IP addresses linked from pages that you visit.

•A searchable index of most pages you visit (except for secure pages with “https” web addresses, such as some bank pages)

•Thumbnail-sized screen shots of most pages you visit

•Cookies or web storage data deposited on your machine by websites you visit

•A record of downloads you have made from websites”

What I do see is Comcast (or whatever they’re called today) jumping all over this. They have been looking to get into the mobile services and this may be their chance.

I think it would be good.

Ad-supported calls? Not likely. Ads while randomly going through your phonebook, web, etc? Yeah, that I can see… IF you choose the phone/service for free.

Or you can pay like you do now for no ads.

That would be a win-win.