'We're Not Doing a Mobile Phone' Added to Norton Anthology of False Denials

In the lexicon of Google nondenial denials, “we’re not doing a mobile phone” is right up there with the great ones: “We don’t think it’s a competitor to Microsoft Office”; “We do not intend to offer a person-to-person, stored-value payments system“; and, of course, “We have no plans for an IPO.”

According to people familiar with Google’s plans, the company is indeed working on a mobile handset. “Google has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the cellphone project,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “It has developed prototype handsets, made overtures to operators such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, and talked over technical specifications with phone manufacturers. It hopes multiple manufacturers will make devices based on its specs and multiple carriers will offer them.”

Interesting, eh? You know who else probably has a few of those prototype handsets? Sprint Nextel. Remember, Google did announce an alliance with the carrier last week, one that will see the two companies working together to bring Google’s search, digital-mapping technologies and GTalk chat service to Sprint’s WiMax network. Five dollars and an Eric Schmidt bobblehead says if and when Google-customized phones do arrive at market, they run on Sprint’s high-speed wireless network first.