Google Gear On LG

Written by Adam Gosling

Friday, 30 March 2007

New mobile phones from LG will have Google software including Google Maps, Gmail and Blogger, all pre-installed when shipped to Europe, the US and Asia from later this year. The deal is the latest volley in a race to get control of the mobile eyeballs as major portals move to make the most of the impending wireless broadband boom. Google has a similar deal in place with Samsung and has some software on the BlackBerry. No doubt more agreements are in the works. Apart from offering a seamless transition from the desktop, the mobile device market is seen as a fertile advertising and major players, such as Yahoo are moving quickly to try to grab mobile real estate. "Building on our efforts to set new standards for wireless handsets, we are excited to partner with Google to offer extra value to consumers with enhanced mobile Internet experiences," said Paul Bae, Vice President of the Product Planning Team at LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. The two companies will also jointly market co-branded LG-Google handsets, then further extending their collaboration to develop digitalized home in the future. LG plans to launch mobile handsets pre-installed with Google and products and service for the next few years with at least ten new handsets in 2007, starting in the second Quarter. The market for mobile advertising could grow into the Billions before the end of the decade and online advertising providers are eager to target the market to bolster their PC-based business. Both Yahoo and Microsoft are also signing up handset makers to get their software on mobile devices. Each had advantages over search giant Google. Microsoft has its own mobile operating system and Yahoo! last week revealed a new mobile search service that does not require software to be pre-installed or downloaded. Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst at Ovum says Yahoo!'s Mobile Publisher Services is just the latest in a string of initiatives around mobile advertising that show how seriously Yahoo! takes this market and underscores the fact that it wants to be the premier player in this space. "Yahoo! has launched its publisher network with only three partners, which is very modest and does not provide a large collective inventory. But the partners themselves are a good start," he said. "Yahoo! is being very ambitious and will face strong competition in the mobile advertising market, which is still very much up for grabs. Google is usually viewed as the lead contender in terms of online brands moving into mobile advertising. However, we think it unwise to underestimate Yahoo! and the mobile publisher advertising network should be viewed alongside Yahoo!'s other activities in this space, which are ramping up quickly," said Zoller. Related news items Tiny Rugged UMPC WIth Vista -10/10/2007 Consumers Want FMC: Companies Don't See The Benefit -02/10/2007 Nokia Buys Map Company For US$8 Billion -02/10/2007 Seven In Unwired Takeover Bid -26/09/2007 Ultra-Mobile Sales Ready To Rocket -16/09/2007 Newer news items Drive Gets Mobile -11/05/2007 Optus, Fairfax Put Finance On Phones -04/05/2007 Google Launches Voice Activated Search -10/04/2007 BigPond's AFL For Mobiles -09/04/2007 Women More Likely To Dump You Via SMS -04/04/2007 Older news items MMS Postcards Arrive in Aus -13/03/2007 3 Gonged For Sport Coverage -13/03/2007 Yahoo! Go Goes Windows: HTC Laps It Up -07/03/2007 Another Wikipedia Scandal -05/03/2007 BigPond Has V8s Live On Mobiles -04/03/2007 Tag This Now: