This morning kicks off a month-long cycle of mobile news with the two notable bookends being today’s anticipated release of the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) phone, and later this month, the potential unveiling of Apple’s tablet. What lies between isn’t trivial either – CES begins informally tomorrow and lasts until Saturday. You can follow both the Google event, live at 10 a.m. Pacific, and CES on mocoNews. Additionally, my colleague Staci Kramer will in Las Vegas for paidContent.org.
Today, at Google’s Mountain View headquarters, the internet-search giant is extending its reach further into mobile. The company is expected to formally unveil the Nexus One, a phone that was passed out to all Google employees late last year and was quickly considered the famed “Google phone.” While it’s unlikely that the name will continue on, Google plans to sell the device direct to consumers rather than through the traditional carrier partner. Initially, the business model was considered a game changer, but more recently, critics have pointed out that other phone manufactures have been unsuccessful at selling unsubsidized and unlocked phones in the U.S.
Just as the dust settles on the Google news, CES will kick into full gear. The gigantic consumer-electronics show attracts hundreds of thousands of participants and exhibitors each year; it informally gets going on Wednesday and lasts until the weekend. The week is packed with back-to-back press conferences with big names on the calendar, like AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon Wireless, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel and Palm (NSDQ: PALM). That’s even before big keynotes, by, among others, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, Intel’s Paul Otellini, Nokia’s Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo and Qualcomm’s Paul Jacob.
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