It’s official: Google is coming to wireless phones.
The search engine giant announced Monday that it has reached agreement with 34 telecom companies- including carriers Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile and hardware makers LG, Motorola and Samsung- to establish the Open Handset Alliance. The agreement marks the fruition Google’s long-rumored plans to enter the wireless sphere and make its most popular products available on handheld devices.
Other members of the alliance include Broadcom, Ebay/Skype, Intel, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. Also included is China Telecom, the largest wireless provider in that country. Despite reports of negotiations last week, Verizon Wireless is not a part of the alliance.
According to the New York Times, the deal does not include any type of Google-branded phone, but will put Google’s proprietary technology on phones worldwide. Phones featuring the technology is expected to arrive in the second half of 2008.
