Supportive Evidence:
1. The original Gphone article by rediff claims that; “Talks are believed to be taking place with Bharti Airtel [Get Quote] and Vodafone Essar, respectively India's first and third largest mobile telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam.”
We noticed the Bharti Airtel stock has run up 20 points since the Rediff article so it seems to support (albeit weak) the accuracy of the report.
2. On August 2nd 2007 The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is looking to develop a Google Phone. The article also contends that Google is actively working a mobile handset, the so-called "Google Phone" or "GPhone," and possibly envisions itself an operator one day of an ad-supported free mobile service.
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Other Supported evidence from the Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins Blog. He’s been very fair in his analysis and reporting of the Gphone rumor.
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Wired said that: Rumor: Google Phone Will Be Linux-Powered, GPS-Loaded and Cheap: "If the murmurs are true, the gPhone cometh in September."
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the UK Guardian said that: The gPhone: "Speculation continues about Google's mobile phone plans."
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IntoMobile said that: Google GPhone confirmed as low-cost sub-$100 device: "Rizzn.com has also allegedly confirmed that the Google Phone will be using an ad-based model to help subsidize the cost of the phone - serving up Google ads whenever possible." [a point of clarification... that's analysis on my part, not confirmation. There will be ads on the phone, and the price-point is allegedly going to be low, but that one will subsidize the other, it's just an educated guess on my part]
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SEOPrincipal said that: Google Phone “Confirmed” - Will Be The Computer For The Poor: "Finally, someone posted something that looks like a reliable confirmation of the coming release of the Google Phone." [thanks! finally someone thinks I'm reliable instead of baggin' on me! :-) and he also said:] "Remember that Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said last year that they would provide free phones to people if they accept to view advertising."
All of the supportive evidence points to the fact that a Google Phone is in development but will it launch in India in 2 weeks?
Evidence against the Gphone Launch 
1. Intelligent marketing involves creating a buzz and using the buzz to build momentum for a product or service. Witness the iPhone and Steve Jobs announcement of the phone 5 months before its launch. Witness Hollywood and Bollywood movies and the marketing activities before a movie opening. Can you name one major product or service that was launched as a complete surprise?
Although if any company were to do it I’d pick Google, it doesn’t make any business sense (and as a publicly traded company they answer to shareholders) to launch a new product without any pre-marketing activities. No pre-marketing activity is a disservice to your shareholders and bottom line thus I find it difficult to believe even Google would try this approach.
2. From Rizzn’s blog: “I suggested a theory <to a Google insider> that perhaps they'll show a version of the phone in two weeks (or a press conference about it), but it might not be available for American release until later, and he seemed to think that was a reasonable theory.
Thus a hint from the same Google insider that a release of the phone may not ship in two weeks but that a Gphone announcement may be imminent.
3. Google is not in the hardware business and therefore I find it difficult to believe they developed and manufactured a Gphone without partnering with a major telecom handset manufacturer. If they partnered, then reports would have leaked long ago about the manufacturing partner because of the unofficial Public Relations value for that company.
3. Russell Shaw of ZDNet points out that that Google quickly secures trademarks for products and services it launches. Can we expect Google to do what Apple did to Cisco (see Apple vs. Cisco)? The gPhone trademark was filed by Micro-g LaCoste, Inc., a company in Lafayette, Colorado, on March 5 of this year which may be a Google front company, but the trademark is as follows:
“An accelerometer employed as a gravity meter for use in full bandwidth monitoring of ground motion related to earthquakes, volcanology, tectonic movements, aquifers, hydrocarbon and groundwater reservoirs, glacial rebound, glacier studies, earth tides, long period seismicity, and for geologic mapping and other geoscientific applications.”
It doesn’t sound like a phone to me. Can a US trademark attorney clarify whether a trademark can be changed to a new description? Also, has anyone tried to verify whether a Gphone trademark in India was filed? The India Street recently filed an India trademark search for Gphone and Google Phone and will report the findings.
4. The latest Engadget Report on the Gphone is that the Gphone is actually the Gphone Operating System (OS) and that Google is actively working with OEMs and ODMs to get them to put the Gphone OS on upcoming devices.
The report seems to be the most objective and factual that we have found. It makes sense since Google quietly acquired Android (a wireless software provider) in 2005 for Google’s mobile strategy.
5. While the FCC bid for the 700mhz spectrum is important and needs to be considered here, the strategy of owing a spectrum still appears to be software or platform related.
Conclusion
The evidence points to a very real Google mobile phone strategy but not a launch of a Gphone in 2 weeks. I predict an announcement will be made in two weeks declaring that a few OEM’s have agreed to add a Gphone OS to their upcoming model releases. Google may also hint that they are developing a very real Gphone handset but the evidence suggests the Gphone is a prototype phone used to show OEM’s the basic premise of the Gphone OS.
Suggested Reading
11 Disrupting Web 2.0 Internet Companies that will Change India
Note to Mukesh Ambani – Why rich should share wealth with poor
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