Android smartphones gain support from big name vendors |
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By Ed Hardy, Editor-in-Chief
18 Feb 2008 | Brighthand.com |
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More big name vendors are signing on to support Android mobile devices when they release later this year. There's good news for those who are waiting for a smartphone based on Google's Android operating system: several more big-name companies have promised to release models running this operating system.
But people are going to have to be patient. The first devices running Android aren't expected until much later this year, or in the first part of 2009.
LG is one of the companies planning to get a device out in this time period. "We will bring it out late in 2008 or early 2009," Chang Ma, LG's vice president for marketing strategy told Reuters.
Samsung also announced at the Mobile World Congress this week that it plans to have its first Android-powered device on the market early next year.
T-Mobile doesn't want to wait until 2009. In a press conference on Monday, CEO Hamid Akhavan promised his company will release a smartphone running Android during the fourth quarter of 2008. However, he didn't say whether this means Europe, the USA, or both.
It's HTC by a nose
At this point, it appears that HTC will be first to market with an Android-powered device. Even more, CEO Peter Chou has promised that his company plans to release two or three smartphones running this operating system this year.
Unfortunately, despite all the talk about Android models, few companies have been willing to publicly display products running this operating system at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. For the most part, the only exceptions have been prototypes put together by chip makers.
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