Zune, Google compete for phone

MALLORY TERRENCE STAFF WRITER MMT723@CABRINI EDU

Google and Microsoft are getting ready to launch cell phones to compete with Apple. If any company is going to kill the popularity of the iPhone, Google and Microsoft have the ability to do so.

The Google phone is still a possible rumor since the company will not comment on the speculations. There is no proof a ‘GPhone’ exists but it has not stopped potential customers from hoping they are able to get their hands on such technology within the next year. It is certain Google has the technology and money to create a product that will allow customers to use the Web and exchange pictures and video all from a mobile phone.

The Google cell phone is going to have a different vision than Apple, by creating a service that is free of monthly charges. The mobile web will run free of charge the same way Google’s online search engine does, as a result of the amount of money gained through advertising. The rumors are running wild over the Internet on what the phone will look like and that it may be available for the low cost of $100, according to speculations in a LATimes.com article written by Jessica Guynn

Microsoft has said it is not unreasonable for the company to introduce a mobile phone. Microsoft’s digital music player Zune will be the basic design of the cell phone. The phone will offer all elements of

Zune including being able to play-downloaded music, FM radio and take pictures. Microsoft Zune’s main innovation is WiFi-based sharing of songs and digital photos sent wirelessly between two or more nearby Zunes.

Windows software is available for mobile devices. However integrating both Windows and Zune would create a technology giant.

“I would definitely buy a Google or Zune phone, especially if it offers a better quality at a cheaper price than the Apple iPhone,” Jahlil Edwards, a freshman marketing major, said.

Apple has called the iPhone a “revolutionary phone” that has changed the way people communicate. The Apple iPhone is the first cell phone that has a touch screen that allows you to read texts, listen to music and surf the web at the touch of your finger. The phone can be held horizontally or vertically to better view pictures and movies.

The June 29 release of the Apple multipurpose iPhone had customers lined up out the door waiting to become one of the lucky owners. Will the hype be just as big with the release of a GPhone or Zune Phone? We can only speculate at this time but it is certain that technology is growing everyday. There is no telling what people will be able to do with their cell phones in the future.