We've all been a little breathless over the idea of The Google Phone, and that everything could change (some of us, anyway). But, wait, you say, Google can't just give away a phone like that. Well, they could.

Let's just start with the numbers. Google has a gigantic $22 billion pile of cash. Just sitting there. It had profits of $1.64 billion last quarter, on revenues of $5.94 billion. It has a lot of money.

Now let's look at the Nexus One. There aren't any good cost breakdowns of the closest phone to it, the Droid, but iSuppli's teardown pegged the iPhone 3GS at a build cost of about $180 to build about six month ago, so it's not a bad assumption that today, the Nexus One would run around $200, maybe a little more. Selling the Nexus One direct to consumers at cost—in other words, the exact same amount it costs Google to build them—by definition costs Google nothing. Even if Google were to take a massive $100 hit on every phone to sell them at $200 (or less) and wanted to push 5 million of them, it would cost Google $500 million. That's a pretty tiny of chunk of $22 billion. I mean, Sergey Brin spends millions on companies without Eric Schmidt even noticing. Point being, Google, even in the most drastic scenario, doesn't need a phone company to subsidize the Google Phone.

Now, let's look at how Google makes all that money, considering all the crap they give away for free, like email, finding stuff for you, browsers, turn-by-turn navigation and, lately, operating systems. Advertising. $5.75 billion of its revenues—97 percent—came from advertising. Whenever you go on the internet, essentially, Google makes money. It's why they give away all that stuff, because, they want you online a lot.

So, that doesn't quite explain why Google would want people to have a Nexus one that badly. Until you look at stuff like Morgan Stanley's 424-page tome, 'The Mobile Internet Report,' which says things. Things like mobile internet will be "at least 2x size of Desktop Internet" and that smartphones will beat out notebook and netbook shipments next year. And remember that by purchasing AdMob, Google became the biggest mobile advertiser on the planet (that's with just 24 percent marketshare, meaning they have plenty of room to grow and conquer). It works out even better for Google if you're using an Android phone, because it's completely tethered to Google services, driving you to the internet that much more. (Both on your Android phone and your big computer.) Bottom line: More people using smartphones, especially theirs, going on the internet, makes Google money not just immediately, but long term, since you're not going to go back to a dumbphone.

And that's not even considering some of the more offbeat rumors or speculation, that'll it be subsidized by ads built into the phone, or go full-blown VoIP (Google just bought a VoIP company called Gizmo5) instead of voice plan, on top of using a weird online rebate through Google.

We're just saying, it's totally reasonable Google can sell the Nexus One for cheap, without help from the carriers, and it's not so crazy even, for Google to give it away, just like turn-by-turn navigation. That's what might be worth getting a little breathless about.

Dell announced plans to fire 16% of its workforce, or 700 people, by June 2010. And right around the same time, Dell mysteriously started offering deals like a 3.2GHz dual-core Xeon PC for $10.99. Coincidence?

Of course, if cheap PCs aren't your thing, no problem. Dell's still got you covered. Maybe you'll be interested in a $4,000 Laser USB Mouse. It promises Windows 7 compatibility. And a power adapter will set you back just $709.99.

Correlation isn't causation, but it seems, well, possible that at least one disgruntled employee decided to tweak a few prices here and there to cause havoc. Now whether or not it's your duty, in interest of helping a fellow man down on his luck, to scour Dell for unnoticed deals and place futile orders quickly...that's your call. [SlickDeals and DailyTech via CrunchGear]

Today, in terrifying things about the world: Iraqi militants have been able to intercept video feeds from the Predator surveillance drones with a simple Windows app. To rephrase, an iconic symbol of our military superiority can be foiled for $26.

The software, as far as I can tell, is a simple data-leeching utility. With a satellite dish and a few parameters (Packet IDs and transponder codes, which you can evidently scan for) you can tap into downstream data feeds, and essentially recording whatever data is transmitted to (specific) other users on a satellite network. How the insurgents got the proper parameters for predator drone, I have no idea—but apparently it's not that hard. Says a senior defense official:

There did appear to be a vulnerability. There's been no harm done to troops or missions compromised as a result of it, but there's an issue that we can take care of and we're doing so.

If twelve-year-olds can encrypt their torrent downloads, I think it's a reasonably fair expectation for the US military to be able to encrypt mission-critical data transmissions, the insecurity of which could kill people. (Or, alternatively, the security of which ensures that that we can kill people. Someone's got to die, right? Right? Right.)

Also worrying: reports that the new Battleship iPhone app has, due to a small programming error, destroyed most of the Navy's pacific fleet.

At the time of posting, SkyGrabber's website is down. [WSJ]

The last clip was a tease. But here we see lots more sample footage as some brave Carnegie Mellon students make D&D play on the Microsoft Surface. Don't you dare pretend you're too cool for this. [Surface Blog via Kotaku]

They're a little late to the party, but Continental will soon be offering wireless internet on some flights. Starting in Q2 2010, 21 of their Boeing 757-300s will be outfitted with Gogo, the same service used by American, United, Delta, and AirTran. The planes travel mostly domestic routes, and a Wi-Fi connection will start at $4.95. Better late than never, guys! [SlashGear]

Apple's got the patent office working overtime again, this time with an application for a 3D display that rotates objects based on the relative position of the user.

According to the filing dug up by MacRumors, Apple's trying to bring a little hyper-reality to your monitor. Instead of using a keyboard or a click to move a 3D object, you'd simply have to move your head to manipulate the image. It sounds similar in concept to Johnny Chung Lee's heroic Wiimote hack that effectively turned your head into a mouse, though nothing in the Apple patent suggests you'd have to wear a sensor. Instead, a mounted camera would track your movements, and possibly also the environment around you.

The patent application also proposes incorporating the technology into 2D functions—like layering open applications—to provide a more intuitive, hands-free interface with your display for everyday tasks as well.

This isn't the first time Steve Jobs has explored a 3D solution, but with recent advancements like Natal and MIT's bidirectional display, it's more probable than ever that we'll see this—or something like it—come to fruition. [Apple Patent via MacRumors]

The NookDevs just got a full web browser up and running on the Nook, alongside Android Twitter/Facebook apps. At what point does the Nook cease to be an eBook reader and start to be something more? [Twitter via Android Guys]

The digital magazine battle royale has gone up a notch today, with the publishers of Popular Science magazine creating this beautifully graceful concept. Game on, Wired and Sports Illustrated, game on.

Publisher Bonnier has worked with design agency BERG to come up with the Mag+ tablet, which has the magazine pages run vertically, rather than on the next screen like we've always seen so far. It actually replicates the experience of reading a magazine really well, as pages can be flipped like you would with a normal magazine, and when you encounter an article you'd like to read, you scroll down to view it.

If this is the future for the magazine industry, suddenly I feel a lot more hopeful. [BERG via SlashGear]

Take a gander at the video of BERG talking through the concept here:

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

And video footage of the prototype here:

Mag+ (video prototype footage only) from Bonnier on Vimeo.

This is absolutely crazy. There's a Swedish invasion at the Apple Campus in Cupertino, waiting for Steve Jobs to come. They are employees of the SVT TV channel—the Svenska equivalent to the BBC—broadcasting live now—to Sweden. Here's why:

Dear Steve Jobs,

We at SVT (the Swedish public service broadcaster) would like to ask you a favor. Below is a description of our SVT Play application. And to the right you can see all the Swedes who are eagerly awaiting its approval. So please Steve, hurry up and approve our app.

We have tried to simplify the approval process as much as possible for you. Just press the green button below and record a video of yourself saying "JA" (that's "yes" in Swedish, pronounced "yah").

Come on, Steve, Sweden is waiting. Say JA!

Sincerely,
SVT, Sweden

Apparently, it is not a joke. They want their video application—check out the video demo in the gallery—to be approved, and they figured out that this would be the fastest way to do it.

They are broadcasting live now. Yes, the Swedes are nuts, which is why I love them. [Dear Steve Jobs]