Google CEO Eric Schmidt took the hot seat at the Web 2.0 Summit yesterday, and wasted little time showing off his company’s next-generation “Nexus S” Android phone.
On the surface it appears to be a Samsung Galaxy S phone (which would explain the “S” moniker), while Schmidt demonstrated a built-in near field communications (NFC) chip.
(More on Techland: Samsung Launches Impressive ‘Galaxy S’ Smartphone)
NFC chips are found in everything from tap-to-pay credit and debit cards to corporate key fobs used to gain access to certain buildings. With support for NFC in the next generation of Android software, version 2.3 (Gingerbread), users will be able to use their phones in lieu of credit cards. You’ll be able to “bump for everything,” as Schmidt put it.
We’ll see Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread, in “the next few weeks,” according to Schmidt.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKOWK2dR4Dg&w=450]
Schmidt also addressed the big networks’ blocking of Google TV’s web browser, saying that he’s confident it’ll work itself out:
“A whole bunch of people have announced quite publicly that they’re happy with what we’re doing. And the ones that have reservations, we’re trying to address those with data.
It makes sense to me that if you have an industry that hasn’t had this kind of innovation at scale in a very long time, people would be concerned. This is their livelihood, they do depend on this for revenue for funding and so forth. It’s very real. We don’t want a repeat, where revenue somehow goes to zero. We want to make the revenue larger.
So far, the conversations have been friendly. It’ll work itself out. I’m quite confident that we will get through this one simply because the technology’s just so powerful.”
(More on Techland: Logitech Revue with Google TV Review: A Bridge to the Future)
And on the difference between Google’s upcoming Chrome operating system and Android, Schmidt offered the following:
“So far the model seems to be that the Android solution is particularly optimized for things that involve touch in some form, and Chrome OS appears to be focusing primarily on keyboard-based solutions that are of the traditional PC variety. And that’s how the market seems to be segmenting. We’ll see. Chrome OS is not shipping yet in any volume, so we’ll see, and you should be the judge.”
When asked if we’ll see Chrome OS on tablets, Schmidt responded:
“Because it’s open source, the answer is yes, yes, yes, and yes. Just as you’ll see Android on everything. The primary design center, again, has been on netbooks, but of course there’s nothing preventing it from being on larger or smaller devices. It’s designed around something with a keyboard, though.”
You can watch the entire interview in the video embedded above, or directly on YouTube.
More on Techland:
Eric Schmidt: Chrome OS Devices To Be Disposable, Cost Under $400