Googlers' usual $1,000 cash bonus replaced with G1 phone this Christmas

LONDON: Google's employees will not be getting the usual cash bonus of 1,000 dollars this Christmas, for the Internet search engine giant has decided to give them a version of its new mobile phone G1 instead.

The customised G1 devices will be given to all permanent Google employees in the United States, Western and Central Europe, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Japan, covering about 85 per cent of its 20,123 global staff.

However, since the G1 cannot be shipped to other parts of the world due to legal reasons, the company's staff elsewhere would be receiving $400 instead.

The company had launched this phone in October this year to compete with Apple's iPhone. It runs on Android, Google's own mobile operating system.

"The holiday bonus is a Google tradition- it's a great way to thank everyone for their hard work. In the past, we've done this in cash. This year, we've decided to give Googlers a different kind of present- a Dream phone," a website quoted the company as telling its staff via an e-mail.

G1 received a lukewarm response when it was first unveiled, with some calling it "an unattractive and uninspiring piece of plastic".

The company's e-mail calls on its staff to test the phone in-house.

"Some of you will of course be wondering why we decided to change from a cash bonus to the Dream phone," the e-mail reads.

"Googlers globally have been asking for the Dream phone and we're looking forward to seeing all the things that you do with them. This is a chance for us to once again dogfood (a term used for testing) a product and make it even better!" it continues.

The e-mail goes on to finish on an upbeat note: "Thank you for all that you do to make Google the company that it is. We hope that you will enjoy using your Dream phone in 2009 and have a very happy holiday!"