There was been a wide variety of speculation around Google’s Gphone and today they finally broke the news.  There will be no Gphone.  At least not a physical phone that Google will produce.  Rather they released the Open Handset Alliance.

Today, there are 1.5 billion television sets in use around the world. 1 billion people are on the Internet. But nearly 3 billion people have a mobile phone, making it one of the world’s most successful consumer products. Building a better mobile phone would enrich the lives of countless people across the globe. The Open Handset Alliance™ is a group of mobile and technology leaders who share this vision for changing the mobile experience for consumers.

Currently they have  7 major Mobile Operators who are in the Alliance including Sprint and T-Mobile.  5 major handset manufacturers such as HTC Corporation, LG, Motorola and Samsung.  And numerous software and semiconductor companies.

Along with the Open Handset Alliance they also introduced us to Android.

The first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications — all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities.

This is truely going to be an interesting project and a look into what the future will bring for mobile phones.