Google Phone Announcement May Be Coming On Monday

Lots of people have been anticipating a Google phone for months now, and the long wait may be nearing an end. The company has been doing a lot of work with current handset manufacturers in an attempt to develop open mobile phone platforms, and it’s also anticipated that they may announce the release date for the Google phone as well.

Don’t expect to see any devices soon – the middle of next year is the earliest Google-powered phones could come to market.

What will the impact be? Well, Google is trying to remake cellphones in the model of the Web, making them as open as possible to new applications in areas like social networking and map-based services. It’s too early to tell whether this will be a revolution in cellphones – or just an evolution that improves on the relatively open platforms already out there, like rival Microsoft’s Windows mobile. If the partnerships result in Google-branded devices hitting the market, we’ll get a chance to see how much pull the Google name really has in the wireless market. We’ve already seen the pull Apple has.

Of course the chance exists that the company won’t announce a phone at all, but will stick to their third party role in developing applications. Inquiring minds are salivating at both possibilities.