The GPhone lives

But it's not a phone, it's (according to the Wall Street Journal) an open source phone OS. So far, so, well, kinda interesting.

But the WSJ article goes onto say:

"Google-powered phones would have applications like Google Maps that are already in some handsets ... The most radical element of the plan, though, is Google's push to make the phones' software "open" right down to the operating system ... That means independent software developers would get access to the tools they need to build additional phone features."

Radical? It isn't exactly an innovation to have a Linux or open-source based phone. How do I know? Well, I knew already, but I Googled "Linux phone OS": the link above is the 2nd one in the list. Not hard to do some basic research is it?

The article implies that the Google apps (like maps and GMail) would be open source too. Ok, it implies it, but it might not be reality, which makes the whole thing a lot less interesting.

I also think that the WSJ is out to lunch when it says an open source OS implies that ISVs "would get access to tools" they need. These are 2 are entirely different issues. Developers have excellent tools for closed OS' like Symbian, iPhone (well, coming soon) and Windows Mobile. Symbian's tool chain even uses an open source based IDE: just Google "Symbian Eclipse"; I give up with the direct links.

So, WSJ scoops that the GPhone exists (although this was admitted by Google awhile ago), but gets all the implications screwed up. *Sigh*