sprint

What does Google+Android_700mhz+sprint+skype get you?

A Google rumour mill that's gone completely batsh*t.

This blog over at the Guardian is saying this:

Currently in favour around London's webbist community is the rumour that Google has been in negotiations to buy Skype, the web telephony firm, from eBay.

Nice. There's not even a whiff of legitimacy around this one - the blurb doesn't even pretend there is. But it's fun, isn't it?

If Google were to buy Skype, and all the other rumour bits'n'pieces were to fall in line, we could have the big G running ads on VOIP calls over an Android-running handset rocking the 700mhz spectrum. Woo-wee.

Keep in mind that eBay is an OHA member, so whether or not this rumour is true, we're definitely gonna see a Skype client for Android.

Incidentally, I love the term "webbist". It's like "chemist" or "boot", a reminder that the English speak the language better than North Americans do.

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that AT&T may be in talks to join the Open Handset Alliance.

The blurb quotes Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T's wireless unit, as saying that the company is "analyzing the situation", which is exactly the kind of noncommittal, ambiguous statements that CEOs always make and that still, somehow, end up being the source of pieces by major news agencies.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is getting serious about betting bidding on the 700mhz spectrum auction.

The company is gearing up to make a serious run at buying wireless spectrum, a chunk of the airwaves that can be used to provide mobile phone and Internet services, in a Federal Communications Commission auction in January. Google is prepared to bid on its own without any partners, say people familiar with the matter. It is working out a plan to finance its bid, which could run $4.6 billion or higher, that would rely on its own cash and possibly some borrowed money.

The article goes on the report that Google is already testing an advanced wireless network on their campus in Mountain View.

Meanwhile, the other carriers are hoping that Google doesn't know what its getting into, and that its underestimating what it takes to run a network. Of course, Google might be looking to buy the experience required from Sprint...

I for one welcome our new hair,