Indian news service Rediff.com is reporting that Indian telecom carriers Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar are in negotiations with Google over the search giant's plans to go head-to-head with Apple's iPhone, with its own search-centric mobile device. The report claims that Google is two weeks away from launch, and that it will occur simultaneously in Europe and America--claims that should probably be taken with a large chunk of sodium chloride.

A Google spokesperson wouldn't deny the report, stating in a noncommittal way that "Google is committed to providing users with access to the world's information, and mobile becomes more important to those efforts every day." But the company also said it had nothing to announce at present. And ZDNet's Russel Shaw makes the point that Google has not applied for the GPhone copyright and that a geological equipment company has.

Post by Michael Muchmore