Google might introduce its highly-awaited G-phone today, but don't get too excited. It's not some slick device like Apple's iPhone. In fact, it's not really a phone at all. And it probably won't be called the G-phone.
From what I've read, the phone itself is pretty irrelevant. The hardware could come from any company, really. It's the software inside the phone -- more specifically, the phone's operating system, that Google is concerned with.
According to USA Today, the operating system will heavily promote Google's mobile offerings -- it has tweaked search, Gmail, chat and other programs for the phone.
That's all pretty standard. But what's got the wireless world worked up is that Google also wants an open system on the phone that would let developers create different programs for it. So far, that's pretty unheard of. If you buy a Sprint phone, you only get to use the programs on the phone that Sprint has specifically approved. (Sprint, by the way, is reportedly supporting the G-phone but not to the point where it will offer the phone to subscribers).
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