MyAdhan Blog

Link: The G-phone may beat the iPhone to the UAE

Even though there have been no announcements of a G-phone launch in the UAE, the business model behind it means that several manufacturers could bring the phone into the region, according to Rich Miner, Google’s vice-president of mobile operations.

“There is no reason why you shouldn’t expect [the G-phone] to come to the Middle East,” he says. The iPhone, which was launched last year, has not announced any plans for a UAE launch, despite plans to launch the popular phone in Qatar, Egypt and Jordan.

Miner is also part of the Google team that helped develop Android, the heart of the G-Phone. Miner joined Google in 2005, when his mobile platform company, also called Android, was acquired by the internet giant in 2005. But despite the use of the name, G-phone itself is a bit of a misnomer. The handsets are being dubbed that because Google designed the operating system, but the phones themselves are made by a variety of manufacturers, all members of the Open Handset Alliance.

Open-source system
So far, only HTC, a China-based manufacturer of mobile devices, has produced a phone that uses Android. Dubbed the G1, it will be available from T-Mobile stores in the US on October 22. A UK launch is expected in November, and further launches are expected in Europe later this year. Because Android is an open-source operating system that can be used - for free - by any of the manufacturers in Open Handset Alliance, Miner says, it won’t cause problems with licensing agreements or come with complex business model. That means that any manufacture in the Alliance can produce an unlocked mobile device using Android and sell it here in the UAE.

The iPhone, which was initially launched in 2007, has never officially made it to the UAE due to Apple’s business model, which pairs the popular phone with exclusive networks. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said it will not allow either of the two telecoms in the UAE to sign deals allowing them exclusive rights to any phones. Virtually all the iPhones in the UAE have come into the country through the grey market.

The Open Handset Alliance, which was announced last year, is an association of 34 companies in the alliance which has committed itself to producing a power mobile platform that each can use and modify to its advantage. It includes phone manufactures LG, Samsung and Motorola. Also in the alliance are a number of web telecoms and technology companies, including Intel, eBay and T-Mobile. “The goal was to build a great platform for both carriers and OEMs,” Miner says. “I think we hit both of these with this launch.”

Miner, quoting Google co-founder Larry Page, says the G1 has all the power that a desktop computer had just a few years ago. “Why shouldn’t it feel like I have a small, powerful PC in my pocket?” The G1 will retail in the US for $179, but T-mobile will be requiring a two-year contract on the phone.

Google strengthened its place in the region this month, officially opening its offices in Dubai Internet City and announcing it would be participating in Gitex, the regional IT exposition to be held in October. The company, which has held a trade licence in the UAE since May 2007, will be “trying to help business, especially Arab businesses” with web-related search opportunities and advertising, according to Joanne Kubba, Google’s communications officer for the Mena region.

The company will try to increase the regional use of its AdWords program, which allows companies to advertise on Google.com and other partner sites, and the AdSense program, which allows bloggers and other websites to place Google advertising on their own pages. The Dubai office will be a hub for Google’s operation in the region. Currently the company has two teams, one based here and the other in Egypt.

The company will also be looking at Arab content, or the lack of it.