Android Handsets Delayed
27 June 2008Mobile phones based on Google’s Android software platform have been delayed because of the difficulties involved in integrating different hardware, software and service issues, according to the Wall Street Journal. Android phones that were due by the second half of 2008 are unlikely to appear until the fourth quarter and even that seems like a stretch. T-Mobile is looking to deliver its Android phone in the fourth quarter while US carrier Sprint won’t make it this year and may even drop plans for a 3G Android phone altogether and develop one for the 4G network. China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier, is shooting for late 2008 or early 2009. AT&T, the exclusive partner in the US for Apple’s hot iPhone, is still considering if it’s feasible to offer an Android phone. In a lengthy piece, the Journal wrote Monday that “wireless carriers throughout the industry are confronting challenges as they seek to customize the Android software - which includes an operating system and programs that work with it - to promote their own Internet services. Some handset makers are taking longer than they thought to integrate Android, test it and build custom user interfaces to meet carrier specifications.” News of the delays in arrival of Android phones come as Apple readies the introduction of its new generation of iPhones - the iPhone 3G. Apple has repeatedly said that it intends to sell 10 million iPhones this year. Google is offering the Android stack that includes a Linux-based operating system, middleware and applications free to handset makers in hopes of selling its near ubiquitous ads on the devices.
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