There was some buzz in recent weeks that Google may just take that one big step and introduce its own cell phone , marking its entry to the hardware side of the technology market. However, Google bosses around the world denied the rumor in strong unison.

"At this point in time, we are very focused on the software, not the phone," says Richard Kimber, managing director of sales and operations in South-East Asia.

The same answer was given by Google chief Vinton Cerf, who said that the better way to go about things was to partner Google with established handset manufacturers. The real aim of the search giant is to introduce its search software to the mobile platform and garner revenues through ads in the same medium.

Kimber described ads in the mobile platform as "very effective," as proven by their partnership with Samsung. Cerf, on the other hand expressed the company's desire to be part of the mobile industry, saying "mobile is an important area for Google and we remain focused on creating applications and establishing and growing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide."

The buzz regarding the Google phone was kindled by a Reuters report by phone analyst Richard Windsor who claimed that he had a source close to Google who had seen a "blackberry-like" phone with a slick frame being worked on by a hundred Google people. The search engine company gave a categorical denial in response.

Mobile phones are the key to the growth of the worldwide web. This statement came from one of the founding fathers of the Internet, Vinton G. Cerf, also the Vice-President of Google.

Cerf points out that although Internet users have multiplied from 50 million in 1997 to nearly 1.1 billion, the web only reaches a sixth of the world's population. The reason for this? Affordability issues. The mobile phone, however, seems largely affordable for the remaining part of the world's population.

As a matter of fact, there are already 2.5 billion mobile-phone users, and the numbers are growing rapidly still especially in developing countries like India and China, the world's most populous countries. In India alone, a country of 1.1 billion people, seven million more mobile phone users are added every month. The market for mobile phones in India is so attractive that British telecom giant Vodafone paid 11.1 billion dollars for a controlling stake in the local mobile firm Hutch-Essar this month.

Cerf said that there is an enormous number of applications that could be made available on mobiles. Handset manufacturers and mobile-phone companies are offering an array of Internet-enabled features and services. These include payment and navigation systems while dropping charges under the pressure of growing competition that will bring many of the new subscribers to the Internet.

Google wishes to focus on local languages, culture, content, and delivery of new business models to widen the reach of the Internet. It is now tapping on the talent of Indian engineers to innovate technologies and widen its range of services. A decent strategy, don't you think?