Tim Wu, Freedom Fighter
His wireless-phone manifesto was the inspiration for Google's new mobile-software strategy
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By Spencer Ante
On Nov. 5, Google (GOOG ) unveiled what many in the phone business had long awaited. CEO Eric E. Schmidt explained how the search giant was ready to create new software for mobile phones that would shake up the telecom status quo. A Google-led "Open Handset Alliance" would provide consumers an alternative to the big cellular carriers and give them new choices among mobile phones and the types of nifty services that run on them, from e-mail to Google Maps.