GTS Blog

Google has released its own phone, Nexus One. It runs Google’s own mobile operation system, Android. And the Google Chrome has already surpassed Apple’s Safari in browser usage. So how long will it take for Google to open an online music store and take away market share from iTunes?

The iTunes store has generated Billions of dollars in sales since it launched in 2003. The iTunes store is currently generating over US$100 Million in sales per month and that number is growing exponentially (see graph). This is a hugely profitable area which Google can compete in.

Google has already made several moves in this direction, and seems poised to become an online music retailer.

• Google has launched a music search service which streams music and offers links to other online music sites.  
• BusinessWeek magazine recently stated that Google has already entered the Online Retailing business (read article here).
• Various sources have reported that Google is in talks with online music retailer Spotify to launch a partnership in online music retail.

Google has added a new mobile voice search feature for Chinese language speakers. Recognizing the difficulty of entering Chinese characters on cellphone keypads, Google wanted to make search easier for mobile users. So now users can just ask their cell phone a question and get the search results on their cellphone display. Information on weather, stock quotes, restaurants and more can now be obtained using a simple voice command.

The software, which can be downloaded from Google, currently supports over 40 Nokia phone models. Support for Android and iPhone will be added in the near future.

You can find more information on http://googlechinablog.com/.