Google rival for the iPhone?

The world has now got its hands on the Nexus One, a Google-branded smart phone that represents the company’s first direct move into the handset market. Will Google be able to crush its main rivals, Apple and Nokia in the same way in which it has been able to dominate the web search market?

Success probably depends on capturing a big chunk of the fast-growing market for mobile-internet services and related web-based advertising (a business at which Google dominates). Some industry watches think Google has been forced to make the move as more people web search from phones and less from PCs.

What else will be needed for the idea to prove a success?

Consumers will need to like the handsets in an increasingly crowded market. And Mobile-phone network operators have to be happy in order to maximise distribution of the gadget. In the UK this makes a huge difference to the demand for phones which are often issued by service operators such as Vodafone

Apple is moving fast to upgrade its own products. Rumours abound that Apple will soon launch a tablet-style mobile device that combines wireless connectivity with a sizeable screen that lets users read e-books and newspapers, watch films and run software programmes. This would be an obvious vehicle for carrying online ads. Assuming the iTablet or whatever it is called turns out to be another smash hit for Apple, it may not be long before it has a Google Tablet to contend with too.

(According to the BBC there are already some teething problems with the Nexus One)