It’s hard to beat Robert X. Cringely for some good rumormongering, and his latest is a bit of a humdinger.  According to Robert, Google is planning not one but two gPhone handsets – that’s cellphones running the Android OS and bearing Google’s own brand – for release Q4 2008 and Q1 2009.  This, remember, from the company that said they weren’t interested in building the hardware, just enabling the software for others to install.  Cringely goes on to suggest that one of these mysterious handsets will be a smartphone, the other a more traditional budget model.

“Here is what little I know, dropped in my lap this week by a loyal reader (you know who you are). There are two gPhones slated for release with the first coming in September and the second probably not appearing until after Christmas. Given that the first is the high-end model and the second is cheaper, Google will probably expect to make as much money as possible on the higher-margin units at Christmas before revealing the budget model even exists. How Apple-like, eh?” Robert X. Cringely

“Both will include WiFi, which makes me wonder if a VoIP client will be there, too. The high-end phone will look somewhat like a Blackberry Pearl, but the screen flips up and there is a keyboard for texting. No word on pricing for the high-end phone, but the second model is intended to be less than $100 — AFTER Christmas.

The actual manufacturer of these gPhones will be Samsung (rumors to this point had indicated HTC, so this is a change) and Google is still talking with both T-Mobile and Verizon as potential carriers (rumors also said Verizon had passed — not). That means there are both GSM and W-CDMA versions in the works. Given AT&T’s success with the iPhone I can’t imagine Verizon will let the gPhone pass, but it will be interesting to see if Google will be able go with a nonexclusive deal and get both U.S. carriers” Robert X. Cringely

Without details on his source, you have to take this with a very heavy pinch of salt (in fact, more a shovel of the stuff); Cringely has a patchy track record when it comes to predictions, but the tech world was pretty much caught by surprise when Android turned out to be far wider reaching than a single handset or family of handsets, and there’s no telling whether Google is planning a similar bombshell. 

[via 9 to 5 Mac]