GoogleOS to power Google-branded cellphones?

Om Malik started the discussions about this when he linked to the Observer article on Sunday…

Google is on the move. The internet giant has held talks with Orange, the mobile phone operator, about a multi-billion-dollar partnership to create a ‘Google phone’ which makes it easy to search the web wherever you are.

The collaboration between two of the most powerful brands in technology is seen as a potential catalyst for making internet use of mobile phones as natural as on desktop computers and laptops.

Executives from Orange flew to Silicon Valley in California for a meeting at Google’s headquarters, or ‘Googleplex’, to hold preliminary discussions about a joint deal. The companies believe that they have an affinity as brands that are perceived as both ‘positive’ and ‘innovative’.

^{The future for Orange could soon be Google in your pocket – The Observer}

I already have Gmail, Google Maps and 3rd party Google Talk clients installed on my cellphone at the moment. What I really want is an official Google Talk client and also a Google Calendar client as well. Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar are 3 apps that I rely on daily and I’d very much appreciate having all of them accessible easily from my phone.

Would I specifically want a Google phone? Not unless it offered some very compelling reason to own it. I actually much prefer the idea of J2ME based applications. On the 7650 I used to think Symbian applications were the way… But I’ve matured now and the simple truth is J2ME is most definitely the best option for cellular and mobile applications. You open up to a much larger potential audience that way.

So I have Gmail, I have Google Maps, I have GoTalkMobile (the 3rd party Google Talk client) and I have Opera Mini. But I would definitely appreciate a proper Google Calendar client that allowed me access to the agenda and an official Google Talk client (thats not limited to only the Blackberry.)

What more could you possibly want on a phone? What else does Google offer that would make a Google-branded cellphone worth buying? YouTube video on your phone? From all accounts I’ve heard, Verizon’s version of this has been derided by nearly everyone.

Om Malik and the Observer postulate that Google is readying an operating system for the new phone. So GoogleOS might actually be a reality after all. :-) But why? How many more cellphone operating systems do we need? Even Motorola has given up and is starting to use Linux as its OS on more and more phones, then just throwing a splash of UI over the top.

Meh… Just give me official J2ME apps for Google Calendar and Google Talk and I’ll be a very happy chap. Having said that… Maybe its time to brush off my own spider web covered coding skills and write my own. the GData API is very straight forward and provides access to quite a few Google applications, including Google Calendar. Hmmmmm….. Time to consider.