Rumors are abound again about the now infamous Google Phone. We don’t know much about it yet or if this rumor will ever come to fruition, but I am going to do a preliminary comparison of the two and what it means for you the consumer.

First up the iPhone. We all know by now that the Apple’s iPhone exists and that it caught the world by storm with it’s revolutionary features, muti-touch screen, visual voice-mail, real browsing experience, and the true video iPod. It will exclusively be sold by the new at&t and will fetch a price of $599 for the 8GB version with contract. I’m an Apple fan boy and I love everything Apple creates but being a geek the iPhone does not fully wet my appetite as a phone.

First downside is the network it’s on, ummm high speed it’s not. Why in this day and age would I want a cool technically advanced phone that is slow as balls. Would have been better if the phone used EV-DO, which would lead to Verizon or Sprint, but both companies are too engulfed in their own crappy music and TV services to see a good media platform such as the iPhone and iTunes; this is all presuming that at&t is going to get a cut into Apple’s iTunes revenue from iPhone over the air downloads. For Verizon and Sprint this could have been massive data revenue in their pockets, more money than what their collective music and TV services take in, very foolish. Enough with the phone companies, lets get back to the phone itself. The next problem is the non ability to install third party apps on the iPhone, what a bummer. Whats a smart-phone now a days with out third party apps, I call that a dumb-phone. The best parts of the iPhone: video iPod, real browsing experience can all be done for half the price with the Google Phone.

Now my thoughts on the Google Phone are not confirmed or will even be in the phone if it ever becomes real, but I think the way google is moving in the mobile industry my thoughts are on the right track. Now to start with the already existing rumors; Linux based, ad-supported, multiple carriers supported at launch, full touch screen/blackberry like keyboard. Now I believe that the Google Phone will not only support google mobile applications like maps and gmail, but a real browsing experience supported by FireFox, and a video experience based on google’s video search and youtube.

Imagine instead of the hassle of downloading and purchasing your videos from iTunes, google will give you streaming access to their video store or what I believe will be renamed Youtube Store. On top of that you will also be able to stream current public videos to your phone as well as anything you upload to your private (no public viewing due to copy right issues) online accounts. Now I know what you will all say, streaming content is not the best quality, but neither is the stuff you get from iTunes, and the Youtube Store will have video quality comparable to iTunes plus whatever quality video you upload to your private accounts. Now I don’t believe that google will implement any specific music functions into their phone, they have their hands full already with the MPAA and the TV studios. So they are not going to need the evil RIAA breathing down their backs too. Music will probably be a carrier implementation like the ones Verizon and Sprint offers in their phones today, plus it adds more revenue into the carriers pockets.

Since the Google Phone will be a blackberry like device, that means it will be business oriented as well. Google is currently leading into the business arena with it’s google apps for your domain. Getting all that access such as gmail, calendar, doc, spreadsheets on your phone would be a great win for google’s business strategy. Imagine editing a document in google docs on your phone and have any of your domain’s collaborators edit it without you having to email the document back and forth between co-workers. I see that as a mighty blow to Microsoft’s windows mobile and office. How about a business that wants to be able to call their employees occasionally but does not need the extra monthly cost of a voice plan. Google has that covered already with Gtalk. Not only does it do instant messaging, but it has a VO-IP feature as well; I also for see google adding multiple IM support in the near future for compatibility with AIM, MSN and Yahoo and text messaging. Eat that Apple, we have not heard of your SMS client on the iPhone to even support instant messaging, big mistake.

This is all based on carrier commitment and whether or not the carriers will even let you have the phone without a voice plan. In my opinion they should offer a separate slightly more expensive data plan for non-voice owners and a discounted data plan for voice owners. What should google price a phone with so many fantastic features, well my guess would be around $299 without carrier discounts. Why so cheap, well look at it this way, what is the most expensive feature of the iPhone besides it’s R&D; the flash memory. Since the Google Phone will mainly be a online streaming type of device; the flash memory could consist of 2GB with a micro sd slot for additional memory. Also the phone being ad-supported helps drive down the cost as well. Hey I would not mind a little google ads if it saves me some money, they are unobtrusive and pleasant to look at, and yes I do occasional click on one.

All in all I would love to have a Google Phone. If said features above were included I would be ecstatic. Who knows, maybe google is listening, but they have plenty egg heads over there and I think they will do the consumer and businesses right with the Google Phone.