Gphone Debut Complicated by Its Nonexistence

When the first phones based on Google’s Android mobile operating system arrive at market in the second half of 2008, the so-called “Gphone” won’t be among them, says TheStreet.com. Which makes perfect sense really, because Google (GOOG) has never said it was building a Gphone. If anything, it’s said the exact opposite.

During an Android demo this past April, Google’s Steve Horowitz said specifically “I’m here to tell you there is actually no GPhone,” echoing a similar point that Google CEO Eric Schmidt had been forced to make over and over and over again during a conference call held to discuss the OS.

Q: So if this is not the Gphone, when will we see the Gphone, and what will it be?

Eric Schmidt: We’re not announcing anything, but this is the platform for building a Gphone. It starts a whole wave of innovation …

Q: Does that mean there will be NO Google phone you can buy?

ES: Imagine not just one Gphone, but a thousand Gphones as a result of the partnerships … the many other people who will be joining the open initiative. We forgot to tell you that it’s available next week, and the terms are the broadest in the industry.

Q: ………..Gphone?

ES: We are not announcing a Google phone.

Q: Eric, I want to go back to the Gphone–what’s the deal?

ES: The deal is we don’t pre-announce products… if there were to be a Gphone, it would run Android…”