1) "Never mind that while you can build a phone that supports 3G on three carriers, I've never seen a chipset that supports all four."
Maybe (or maybe not) all carriers, but netbooks are already sold that let you choose from several major carriers, GSM and CDMA. A phone could do the same, and even let you activate the device on multiple carriers simultaenously. Use whichever has coverage where you are.
What, you don't like having 3 phone numbers? Just give out your Google Voice number and have it ring them all, with a single, unified voice mail.
2) "If Google releases an unlocked GSM phone in the U.S., it's unlikely to sell many units, because it will be seen as prohibitively expensive."
...unless someone finances it. Seriously, if carriers can finance phones, why can't manufacturers, or third parties? They can, and they would if it looked profitable. And as phones becomes more central as computing platforms, it will look profitable. Just a matter of time.
I don't know whether Google will do this first or not. It would be a good theatrical move for Apple to do it first - and make all their fans who hate AT&T pee their pants with joy. But somebody will do it sometime, and it will be a great day for phone service.
1) "Never mind that while you can build a phone that supports 3G on three carriers, I've never seen a chipset that supports all four."
Maybe (or maybe not) all carriers, but netbooks are already sold that let you choose from several major carriers, GSM and CDMA. A phone could do the same, and even let you activate the device on multiple carriers simultaenously. Use whichever has coverage where you are.
What, you don't like having 3 phone numbers? Just give out your Google Voice number and have it ring them all, with a single, unified voice mail.
2) "If Google releases an unlocked GSM phone in the U.S., it's unlikely to sell many units, because it will be seen as prohibitively expensive."
...unless someone finances it. Seriously, if carriers can finance phones, why can't manufacturers, or third parties? They can, and they would if it looked profitable. And as phones becomes more central as computing platforms, it will look profitable. Just a matter of time.
I don't know whether Google will do this first or not. It would be a good theatrical move for Apple to do it first - and make all their fans who hate AT&T pee their pants with joy. But somebody will do it sometime, and it will be a great day for phone service.