2006 'Google Phone' Prototype: See What The First Android Phone Almost Looked Like

Time for a walk down Google's memory lane.

In 2006, two years before Google unleashed the very first Android-powered phone (the T-Mobile G1), the company's big idea for consumer smartphones looked a lot like a BlackBerry.

According to The Verge, Google's plans for its future line of Android phones included such features as an ARMv9 processor of at least 200MHz, 64MB of RAM and a 2-megapixel camera. The exact specs for this prototype device, aptly named the "Google Phone," haven't been released.

Take a look at a rendering of the 2006 "Google Phone" (below), courtesy of The Verge.

Now, compare that to the first Android phone released in 2008:

Cult of Mac argues that this rendering indicates Google wasn't planning to release a touchscreen smartphone -- until Apple released the iPhone, that is.

In addition, as Boy Genius Report points out, Google had pitched to T-Mobile the idea of offering an unlimited data plan for just $9.99 a month. To make this low price possible, the company offered to forgo the commission it would have earned by referring Android customers to the mobile carrier.

Renders of said phone, originally included as slides in a November 2006 Google presentation, were revealed on April 25 as evidence in the Google-Oracle trial over patent infringement.

According to Slashgear, Oracle's attorneys are using the designs to support the company's claim that Google had used Java software, which Oracle acquired with its purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc. in 2010, in its Android devices without payment or permission.

CNET reports that the first official Android phone, the 2008 T-Mobile G1, offered two different data plans for either $25 or $35 and the Android software platform, which Google had hoped to outfit with Java software, as shown by one of the presentation slides during the trial.

While Google CEO Larry Page has claimed that Android is important but "not critical" to the company's success, CNET says that another presentation slide entitled "The 5 Business Units each a $10B opportunity; Android and Chrome platforms critical assets for their success" begs to differ.

What do you think of Google's first phone? Would you have bought it had it been released? Let us know in the comments!

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Comments

[Complex757]

10:10 AM on 08/13/2012

Looks like a Palm/Treo, which were popular at the time, so it makes sense.

[John Frame]

05:03 PM on 05/18/2012

htc had a touchscreen phone (they made the G1) before Apple released the iphone. So much for copying Apple. There were dozens of variations of a QWERTY keyboard below a color screen, so much for copying Blackberry. The iphone and Android (TMo) G1 were just the logical evolution of the smartphone as everyone had some variation of the theme with just as many operating systems. I purchased my G1 when they came out. My nephew, who is always on "the cutting edge" had an iphone at the time. Although the Android Market at the time was slim in its offerings, it was obvious even to my nephew that the G1 was a superior device. With an open platform and the ability to do just about what you want with your device, Android will dominate the market for years to come. I have an htc dual-core that is an unbeleivable device, rooted of course. I still have that old G1, also rooted, and it still performs great! And I am getting unlimited data (true unlimited on the G1, speed cut back from 4G on the new one at 5GB) for $25 a phone (grandfathered with TMo) and when using in combo with wifi whenever available have never been throttled back! Who needs an iphone?

[Alek Avramenko]

12:49 AM on 04/27/2012

Still got my Razr from 2006, I remember when it was the hot phone on the block. No way can I bring myself to pay extra $40 per mouth for data.

[nikki717]

04:51 AM on 04/27/2012

I agree. I would be too embarrassed to say what type of phone I have.

[666dorado]

09:23 PM on 04/26/2012

so, basically they were going to rip off the blackberry...but then the iphone came out.

[trojoe]

11:12 AM on 04/27/2012

Yes. And apple ripped off Nokia - he first touch screen phone on the market, years before the iPhone. There is nothing new under the sun.

[666dorado]

11:40 AM on 04/27/2012

there's more to a phone than just a touch screen. nokia didn't have the OS or multi gestures or app store, etc.

that's what google wholesale ripped off from apple, including the look AND the screen.

[sshady1]

03:52 PM on 04/26/2012

Apple doesn't really invent, but they are marketing geniuses. Yes, the touchscreen came first, but it was a kludge. Yes, there was voice recognition before Siri, but not as clever. Yes, there was a tablet before iPad, but not as sexy. Apple is like Led Zeppelin -- they didn't invent the blues, they ripped off some others, but there stuff is the best there is. Yes, I own an Android and an iPhone. The Android is a good device to hack on, the iPhone is what I use as my consumer device. Tuesday's earning report said it all. Apple makes stuff people WANT.

[WestCactus]

03:52 PM on 04/26/2012

This article is not about Apple, but the fanbois come out to tout their slavish devotion nonetheless. Ask yourselves, fanbois, why do you need to cheer lead for Apple? They are a massive corporation with monopolistic aspirations, and you think they care about you or your moral support? Same goes for Google dorks. KNOCK IT OFF! Y'all make me sad.

[Capn Scott]

03:30 PM on 04/26/2012

Still have my HTC G1 (rooted and with a custom ROM), and use it every day as a backup phone and ebook reader (with the 'Cool Reader' app).
T-mobile prepaid on this phone only costs $100 for1000 minutes which lasts for a year. No data with that (since t-mobile dropped the data 'day pass') but data over wifi works just fine when needed.

[GhostTheSmoker]

03:12 PM on 04/26/2012

I'll like Android more if they didn't copy off iOS. I'd like Apple more if they didn't release the most dumb down products ever.

[Brandon R Lucas]

05:28 PM on 04/26/2012

Unfortunately not every company meets the needs of one person. And android never did copy off of IOS.

[bongstradamus]

06:44 PM on 04/26/2012

No, just Microsoft, Oracle/SUN, and a host of patents by other companies in the source code that they are getting sued over. Manufacturers using Android are having to pay licenses for the "open(ly) source (stolen)" software that can't be sold in some major European and Asian markets because of said patent issues.

[hyperkell]

03:08 PM on 04/26/2012

What? that phone doesn't have English lettering. i don't understand what they are getting at with this article? Did Google capitalize off of someone else success? sure, what knucklehead CEO wouldn't try?

[Bob Morrow]

02:34 PM on 04/26/2012

I admit to a lack on knowledge on the phone industry, but the logo on the 2006 Google Phone is for TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) which also operates in Brazil and not T-Mobile, which the story mentions. No real bearing, but I thought it interesting.

[Ballu]

01:54 PM on 04/26/2012

Always trying to copy a leader..
-> 2006: BB was leader, Google tried to copy..
-> 2008: APPL became leader and Google copied that....

Steve Jobs was right...

[pdxist]

03:32 PM on 04/26/2012

2006: Apple didn't make a touchscreen phone.
Late 2006: Images appeared of LG touchscreen phone.
Early 2007: LG releases first phone with capacitive touch display.
Mid 2007: Apple releases touchscreen phone, calls it revolutionary.
2008: Google releases their first-ever phone, uses the technology that's currently popular.
Later: Steve Jobs flies into a rage, vows "thermonuclear war." Dies early. War over.

[bongstradamus]

06:46 PM on 04/26/2012

"You don't agree with me. You must get paid by Apple."

Pretty lame, dude.

[Justtheobvious]

01:48 PM on 04/26/2012

IBM had the first touchscreen phone in 1992.

[jsarets]

02:12 PM on 04/26/2012

Not to mention the LG Prada, launched in 2006 as the first mobile phone with a capacitive touchscreen, about six months before the original iPhone.

[theveggiedude]

02:16 PM on 04/26/2012

And no one cared.

[Bogey907]

01:38 PM on 04/26/2012

I still use a G1, rooted and upgraded with Android 2.2. Works for me.

[Commenter-X]

01:36 PM on 04/26/2012

Apple established the canon of the phone you're using, the tablet you're using, the music player you're using, and the computer you're using. What's next? Your TV?

[Justtheobvious]

01:59 PM on 04/26/2012

Not really.

Touch phone: IBM 1992
Touch pad: Star Trek

[theveggiedude]

02:13 PM on 04/26/2012

You really today's smartphones are a direct descendant to a 1992 touch phone?

Good thing you aren't an archeologist by profession.

[Ed Boisv]

03:10 PM on 04/26/2012

Star Trek? Really? So by that logic, Jules Verne invented the rocket ship.

(He didn't.)

[WestCactus]

03:46 PM on 04/26/2012

For one second, ask yourself why you feel the need to cheerlead for a massive corporation that doesn't care one sliver about you. . .

[Auz]

01:28 PM on 04/26/2012

Mysteriously a year after the iPhone's all-touch debut ... things that make you go hmmm