Google set to launch Android for phones
Saturday, February 9, 2008 7:57
The first mobile phones to use a new type of software developed by internet giant Google are set to be unveiled next week.
The sophisticated handsets will make it easier to browse the web and bring some of the programs and features usually found on home computers to mobiles. Some of the world’s leading phone manufacturers are expected to reveal prototypes of devices running Google’s new operating system at next week’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.
The operating system, known as Android, was announced last November, and is backed by an alliance of more than 30 mobile phone operators, handset makers, software firms and component manufacturers.
It allows third-party developers to write programs and applications that can be installed on Android-based phones to add new features and capabilities to mobile devices. Next week’s event will be the first time that handsets running the Android software have been seen in public.
The anticipated unveiling of Android-based prototypes has increased speculation that Google itself may be about to launch a Google-branded phone, dubbed the GPhone.
