Google this week confirmed plans to become a wireless carrier in the U.S. as an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator). Google senior vice-president Sundar Pichai provided only cursory details about the company’s plans but tempered expectations about Google’s ambitions. Now comes word that the new Google wireless network could support but a single device, the Google Nexus 6.
Google senior vice-president Sundar Pichai explained that Google was not looking to compete with established U.S. wireless carriers but would instead work with them to “drive a set of innovations we think should arrive.”
Codenamed Nova, Google’s wireless network is expected to work with both Sprint and T-Mobile networks as well as Wi-Fi hotspots. It would constantly monitor the strength of cellular connections and Wi-Fi and automatically switch to the one offering the strongest signal. This technology requires “close coordination between smartphone hardware and software” and may explain why Google has chosen to focus on a single device at this time.
Android Lollipop already offers a form of this technology. It is able to pick the best wireless network for specific apps. A data-hungry app will favour the strongest signal available, whether cellular or Wi-Fi, whereas a less intensive app may rely on a weaker network.
Motorola, the company behind the Google Nexus 6, also has experience in this area. It has collaborated with MVNO Republic Wireless to enhance some of its device to work primarily thorugh Wi-Fi and fall back on Sprint’s network when needed.
The report adds that the Google wireless network may launch in the “coming weeks” but warns that the launch could be delayed. Will Google launch its new initiative at Google I/O 2015 in late May?
Source : The Wall Street Journal