Android phones as early as this fall?
A Google executive may have inadvertently tipped the wireless industry's hand on the launch time frame for Android phones.
Ever since introducing Android, a mobile-phone operating system, last November, Google has said that Android-loaded phones would be available in the second half of this year. However, on Monday, Richard Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, put a finer grain on the launch expectations during a conference call about Google's plans for the "white spaces" spectrum, saying the phones could be out as soon as summer or fall of this year.
This Android prototype, show at Mobile World Congress in February, could be a shipping product by fall.
(Credit: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images)After the call, Google representatives reiterated that the launch expectations for Android phones were unchanged at "second half of 2008," emphasizing that the exact launch schedule is up to Google's partners. However, Google is likely privy to that schedule, since they'd probably want to show up for the party or something, and just about all of summer--and all of fall--takes place during the second half of the year.
The debut of an Android phone in the summer or early fall could give Google and its partners a chance to test the market during the back-to-school or holiday shopping bonanzas in the second half of the calendar year. IDG News Service reported last week that HTC was developing an Android phone called "Dream," that would be out "near the end of this year."
The report also said that Samsung was racing with HTC to get an Android phone out the door, meaning perhaps other handset makers have accelerated their plans.
CNET News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this report.
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Think about it... they need time to get more developers to create more applications that are tested and proven. The apps are what will make Android so desirable.
Plus... they'll want to time this perfectly... probably late October or November to perfectly align the enormous buzz with the holiday buying frenzy.
Now, the Android - where does it fit, why should I buy an Android device?
We have Symbian - not that I like it, but its everywhere and its time tested.
We have Apple - the coolest consumer OS on the market, complete with the coolest device.
We have Palm - a dying breed that started it all
We have BlackBerry - a professional grade OS
and we have Windows Mobile, that with a little effort can easily eclipse all of the above by being better consumer product (with SPB Shell 2 I like it far better than Apple's OS), better professional OS (I think it's been better than BlackBerry for a long time, it just takes time for people to adjust).
And where will Android fit it? It will definitely not be a threat to WM, not for many years, at least. If users will switch from BB to something, most likely it will be WM with outlook and exchange, so for BB Android isn't really a competition. Apple doesn't have to worry about - it will not have coolness of the Apple brand. Symbian? Symbian is there because it is there, not because it is better than BB, WM or Apple in any function.
So what is the benefit of buying an Android device? To surf Google or Google maps? That I can do from Safari or forthcoming mobile Firefox (IE doesn't really do a good job on mobile). So what is all that hype about Android devises?