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If cash is king, Google employees may be feeling a bit less royal this holiday season. The search giant eschewed its usual holiday gift of cash to full-time staffers in favor of a new "Dream" phone, the same handset sold by T-Mobile as the G1 that's based on Google's Android software.

But a knowledgeable source inside the company was quick to dismiss a report that Google had given out the phones in favor of bonuses as high as $20,000 to $30,000 per employee. That range was cited by the gossip site Valleywag, which led its article with "Groans are issuing from the Googleplex over this year's holiday bonus."

A letter to employees that came with the phones said in part, "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 (this is the same device T-Mobile markets as the G1)."

See here for the rest of this article at InternetNews.com.