At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from "eating your own dogfood"). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level.
We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.
Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.
Posted by Mario Queiroz, Vice President, Product Management
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The first widely available Android phone, the G1
Rumours have increased over the possible release of a Google branded smartphone in the New Year, running its Android mobile operating system.  Speculation has been rife after it was reported that Google have distributed handsets to its employees for testing worldwide.

It is believed to be being built by the Taiwan based manufacturer HTC, who have already released two phones based on the Android operating system and will feature the newly released Android 2.0.  It is currently named the Nexus One.  On their official blog, Google have confirmed the existence of a handset and the fact that it is currently being tested, but have relased no more details.

It is also understood that it will be sold directly to consumers and will not be locked to any particular network, in a sharp departure from previous handsets sporting Android.  Ben Schachter, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech Inc, based in San Francisco, said: "If all of a sudden everyone is getting on the internet via their mobile device, Google needs to make sure it has an influence on that...they need to make sure they have influence on how the mobile web will develop."

Google is one of the founding members of The Open Handset Alliance, creator of the open-sourced mobile OS Android.