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 its noncommital 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 they had nothing to announce at present. ZDNet’s Russel Shaw makes the point that Google has not applied for the GPhone copyright and that a geological equipment company has.

Speculation on the GPhone has been appearing for months at sites like Engadget, GigaOM, ZDNet, and the Register. It’s thought that the device will be 3G and WiFi capable, and Google has admitted that the company intends to bid in the FCC’s 700MHz wireless spectrum auction.