Google to Sell Own Phone: Report

Google(GOOG) has designed its own mobile phone and plans to start marketing it as soon as next year, according to a published media report.

The Internet search giant plans to take an unusual approach and sell the phone directly to customers instead of through wireless carriers, according to the article, published Saturday on The Wall Street Journal's Web site. The article cited people familiar with Google's plans.

Google is calling the phone "Nexus One" and is having HTC Corp. manufacture it, the report said.

Google is obviously no stranger to the mobile phone space. Its Android operating system is used in handsets from major manufacturers like Motorola(MOT) that are marketed by carriers such as T-Mobile.

But the Nexus One is much more of a Google product in the sense that the company designed virtually all the software behind the phone, the report said.

Consumers who buy the phone directly from Google will then have to buy mobile service for it separately. The decision to market it alone could rankle wireless carriers who already sell other phones that run Android, the report added.

Shares of Google closed Friday at $590.51.

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