Google pulls an Apple with its own pre-CES event
In a move reminiscent of Apple circa January 2007, Google today announced it will be holding an invitation-only Android press event at Google Headquarters on January 5, just two days before the International Consumer Electronics Show opens its doors to the public.
Though the invitation only describes the event as an "Android press gathering," the widespread expectation is that this will be the official launch of the HTC/Google Nexus One, an as-of-yet unreleased Android device that has been distributed internally at Google and hotly discussed in the blogosphere.
The umpteenth Google Phone: What we can learn from what we don't know
A few years back, a tip for marketers that had been passed around with regard to search engine optimization was this: Drum up a phrase and build buzz around the phrase, so as to improve your standing in Google's search index. Later, you can then use the phrase in its branding and your path to contextual glory will be paved in advance. Apparently Google was reading that tip too, because it managed to create buzz over the weekend for a Google Phone even though -- at least from T-Mobile's perspective -- there's already more than one.
Google officially declined comment on a multitude of questions Betanews posed this morning, although one of the declined questions was significant for its having been declined. It did not specifically regard the Android phone whose existence Google confirmed in a blog post Saturday morning. It was more of an analyst question: What did Google expect the balance of its operating expenses to be, between manufacturing and R&D, going forth into 2012?
Google Nexus One phone rumors show the power of buzz
Rumors and scattered confirmations that Google would sell its own, branded Android-powered phone are seemingly everywhere this weekend. The noise is so loud as to essentially quiet persistent rumors about an Apple tablet. That alone is some feat. The buzz reminds me of the rumors before Apple announced the iPhone in January 2007. Cover your ears. The noise is deafening.
The rumors don't need to be true. The buzz is benefit enough to Google. Buzz like this -- the kind Apple has commanded for years -- creates an aura of innovation about a brand, raises higher a brand's profile and, for a public company, lifts the share price and analyst evaluations. Also, the rumors break during a typically slow news cycle -- the holidays and ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in January -- further heightening the buzz. For the last several holiday seasons it was Apple buzz building during the holidays. Now it's Google.