The “deck”, in cell phone speak, is the features menu that appears after turning on the phone’s Internet connection.
Now comes a report warning cell phone operators better not let Google get its features on deck, because the carriers will get steamrolled in the process.
The seemingly innocent features menu is a valuable window for Google to solicit cell phone subscribers directly, making it a threat to just about everything operators hold dear, according to JumpTap, Inc., a Cambirdge, Mass-based mobile search developer.
“Why not Google?,” is JumpTap’s latest white paper. It concludes that “carriers face substantial financial risk if they allow major Internet providers, such as Google, to access the device deck, the subscriber base, and mobile search advertising revenue.”
For now, Google provides a cell phone version of its search features, and little else, and in a way that doesn’t involve cell phone decks.