Samsung, LG to Unveil Google Phone by Year’s End
Friday, February 15, 2008 13:24
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will unveil phones based on Google’s Android mobile phone software platform by the end of this year in the United States.
“We have been talking with Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. mobile wireless operator, for the development of the `Google Phone’ with the launching slated for later this year,’’ a Samsung spokesperson said on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Google showcased a prototype of “Google Phone’’ at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Unlike rival operating systems from Microsoft and the Nokia-owned Symbian, Google’s Android Operating System is based on an open-source code.
A group of 30 mobile operators said they would support Google’s operating system as Google virtually promised to provide the new operating system for free.
The Android-based phones will compete with Apple’s iPhone in the world’s biggest consumer electronics market.
LG Electronics, which has been aggressively selling touch-screen phones in the U.S. to catch up with No. 4 Sony Ericsson, also plans to start providing a phone equipped with the Android system later this year.
“We have been in talks with several wireless operators in the U.S. including the regional No. 4 Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile,’’ an LG spokesperson said.
The two South Korean manufacturers have already joined the “Open Handset Alliance’’ created by Google ― a consortium of three dozen companies working on applications for the Android system. This means that there will be multiple phones using the Google software rather than a single “Google phone.’’
Experts said the U.S.-based wireless operators have been active in using Google’s new system as Google wants to reshape the U.S. mobile market by allocating advertising profits with wireless players.
“The Android-based phones will probably make a debut in the local market in 2009,’’ another LG official said.
