Google mobile 'next year'

Reuters

The Motorola Droid mobile, based on Google's Android software.

Relevant offers

Gadgets

Flash memory clocks up 30 Samsung announces Galaxy Note for NZ Apple not turning "blind eye" to supply chain problems: CEO Nintendo chief promises to do Wii U launch right Rivals vying to turn the tables on iPad Will next Xbox use Blu-Ray? How Kodak squandered every single digital opportunity it had Molecular machinery What's next for the extinct tech list? Kodak bankruptcy action 'won't affect New Zealand'

Google plans to sell its own mobiles direct to consumers as soon as next year, bypassing wireless operators in a rare strategic move, the Wall Street Journal has reported, cited sources.

Called the Nexus One and made by smartphone maker HTC, the phone will run on the search giant's Android operating system - around which Motorola and other cellphone makers have built devices - and will be sold online, the newspaper cited persons familiar with the matter as saying.

Cellular service will have to be bought separately, it added.

The internet search leader may be sounding a challenge to wireless carriers, as well as smartphone makers like Apple. It marks a departure for the leader in web advertising, which has rarely sold devices directly to consumers, the newspaper said.

Google's Android phones have won attention in the mobile industry lately, with Motorola and Sony Ericsson choosing to launch it with their new top models.

Analysts say the aim is to gain access to valuable consumer data that can be used to sell ads at premium prices, rather than to make money from direct hardware sales, as companies such as Nokia or Research in Motion do.

Research house IDC estimates the market share for Android operating software rose to 5.4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in July-September in Western Europe, a key market.

Executives at HTC, the Taiwan-based world's No 4 smartphone brand, were not available for comment. Google was also not available for comment. Google began sharing a version of the Nexus One with employees in recent days, the newspaper cited its sources as saying.

- Reuters