PaulSpoerry.com

Images of the new ‘branded’ Google phone surfaced this week after months of rumors. This will be a branded Google phone, not one developed by the likes of HTC, that will use an even newer version of Android than that of the Droid?the only Android phone currently running 2.0. Most interesting is that this phone may use VOIP, which uses a wireless connection to the Internet for calls rather than a cellular network. For the end user this could could mean lower or even free cell phone bills (you will still pay for data).

VOIP  (Voice Over Internet Protocol) uses an Internet connection to transmit voice signals the same way emails and text messages are transmitted, and is far cheaper than using a cell phone network. Services like Skype are becoming more attractive, offering free domestic calls, no minutes to count, no roaming, and international calls at a fraction of the cost of cell phone rates, but even Skype has not been convenient enough for consumers to abandon their familiar phone service providers.

For the most part, computers have been the only hardware that was convenient to make VOIP calls. It required the caller to use a headset to both send and receive messages (or monitor mounted speaker/mic or one of the newer Wifi phones). Smartphones were the next logical device to get VOIP, and like their PC counterparts required the user to download an app and secure a wireless connection.

The Google phone may be the first smartphone designed specifically for VOIP service, and will come with all of the goodies Google has introduced this year:

1. The Android operating system in a newer version than what is currently offered on the Droid, on schedule to sell a million units before the end of the year, far ahead of analysts’ expectations.
2. Google Voice, Google’s free multi-phone number and message management application, currently available by invitation only and only in the US.
3. Google Latitude, the free app that lets friends share their locations with one another.
4. Google Maps, the free GPS app for mobile phones offering voice guided, turn-by- turn directions that could replace not only the pricier phone apps, but stand-alone GPS systems altogether.

The last piece of the puzzle is WiFi connections or hotspots. Lucky residents of Seattle, Austin, San Francisco and Atlanta have fairly reliable, complimentary WiFi coverage. And of course, if you find yourself in Beijing, the city was fully covered prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Corporate sponsored WiFi is growing: Google paid for WiFi in 45 US airports over this holiday season, offering the service free to travelers, and bit by bit companies are seeing WiFi installations as effective branding strategies.

But for now, WiFi hotspots and connections are spotty at best. Even hands- free calling on the road becomes impossible without a connection, and we can only wait for more auto manufacturers to follow General Motors who began offering the Autonet WiFi router in GM SUVs and trucks in November. At $500 for the device plus $59 a month for 5GB data service, it’s a pricy and limited solution.

Verizon offers a pocket-sized solution with MiFi, providing a wireless connection for up to five devices virtually anywhere for $60 a month with two year contract. Alternately, Google phone users may be able to purchase just a data plan from a cell phone provider, assuming providers cooperate.

The best solution would be an integrated mobile hotspot in the Google phone, activated only when an external hotspot was not detected.

The Google phone is expected as early as January 2010.

The swine flu is the hottest thing on the news today. Every channel, every news web site, and most most people you talk to are saying something related to the swine flu. This flu strand, known as the H1N1 virus, started in Mexico and has spread to other parts of the world due to travelers carrying the virus.

With United States so close to Mexico people here are very much concerned about the flu. More so, it is common knowledge that the border restrictions between Mexico and the U.S. can be bypassed in a relatively easy manner.

So for all those who are wigging out… check out the FluTracker. FluTracker is an online Google Maps Mashup tracking confirmed cases, suspect cases, deaths and false alarms worldwide. To get the latest straight from the horses mouth check the CDC.

Google Mobile Maps is getting a new feature called Google Latitude. It will allow you to broadcast your location to select friends, family, and colleagues based on the coordinates of your cell phone. Latitude already works in 27 countries on Windows Mobile 5.0 or later, , Blackberries, and most Symbian-based devices such as Nokia smartphones. Android support will begin in about a week, and an iPhone app is coming soon. If you live in the U.S., there is also an iGoogle gadget that shows everyone’s location and messages.

“What Google Latitude does is allow you to share that location with friends and family members, and likewise be able to see friends and family members’ locations,” said Steve Lee, product manager for Google Latitude. For example, a girlfriend could use it to see if her boyfriend has arrived at a restaurant and, if not, how far away he is.

Google isn’t oblivious to your privacy; Google specifically requires people to sign up for the service. They can then share their precise location, the city they’re in, or nothing at all. A Google account is required to use the service. For choosing who gets to see your location, you can use contacts stored with Gmail or Picasa. Latitude is very much like a private version of Yahoo’s Fire Eagle geo-location service; there is no way to broadcast your location to the public at large, only to your own Gmail contacts. Oddly, it does not yet work with Google Friend Connect.

Like other location aware mobile application, Google Latitude uses either your GPS satellite location or by proximity to mobile phone towers and wireless networks.

Read up more on Google Latitude here. This link will also send Latitude to your phone as well as let you check if your phone is compatible.

Get Google Mobile Maps here.

Google started to use the Social Graph API to suggest links that can be added to your public Google Profile. If you add links to sites that are connected to other sites using FOAF or the XFN microformat, Google makes it easy to import all the links. For example, if you have an account at FriendFeed, add a link to your FriendFeed page to import the sites you shared: videos uploaded at YouTube, Google Reader shared items, del.ico.us bookmarks etc.

Google Profiles Suggested Links

Google’s unified profiles are slowly added to all Google services that allow user-generated content. “A Google Profile is simply how you represent yourself on Google products — it lets you tell others a bit more about who you are and what you’re all about. You control what goes into your Google Profile, sharing as much (or as little) as you’d like,” explains Google. For now, the profiles are displayed next to the list of shared items from Google Reader, in the Google Books library and next to the custom maps, reviews and edits from Google Maps.