Google's Schmidt Teases New Android phone
Google plans to support Android phones with near-field communications chips
Google plans to support Android phones with near-field communications chips in the next version of Android, which CEO Eric Schmidt said would arrive in the next few weeks. Schmidt, kicking off the Web 2.0 Summit at the Palace Hotel in downtown San Francisco, held up an "unannounced product" that appeared to be the Nexus S, which leaked out on Best Buy's Web site last week.
The phone -Google unhelpfully covered over the brand label--was running Android 2.3, code-named Gingerbread and used a near-field communications chip that Schmidt thinks could eventually replace credit cards.
Schmidt touched on several topics during his talk and in the briefing afterward:
• Android: Google is pretty satisfied with how Android has worked out, but Schmidt said if he had to nitpick one thing it would be how Google chose to focus on developing Android itself over emphasizing third-party application development.
• Raises: Schmidt confirmed that Google gave employees the option of taking home last week's bonuses in actual cash, but declined to say how much money the company had sitting around last Tuesday night.
• Privacy: Google is under a ton of scrutiny from privacy advocates this year following its embarrassing Street View Wi-Fi scandal, and Schmidt reiterated that Google takes its responsibilities seriously, noting that even though the technology is available to permit real-time face-recognition in products like Google Goggles, the company has made a conscious decision to hold back.
• Social: Schmidt didn't have much to say about social technologies, which has long been a weak spot for Google. He expressed the potential for social cues to continue to enhance search results.
• Facebook: Likewise, he also declined to say anything about the fact that Facebook's revamped messaging system, while not an e-mail client, may be intended to sway consumers away from more traditional e-mail like Gmail (but which, on the flip side, exhibits many of the real-time messaging vibes of the failed Google Wave).
• Chrome OS: Netbooks running the Chrome OS operating system are expected to arrive any week. Schmidt painted the difference between Google's two mobile operating systems in terms of the input methods used with those devices.
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