Samsung's Android Phone Plans
handset maker plans to launch three ''Google'' phones this year.
Despite a fanatical amount of interest from the tech media and early adopters, Samsung has mostly kept quiet about its plans to develop phones using Google's mobile platform, Android. But at the CTIA Wireless trade show, an executive shared with Forbes some details about the company's Android strategy.
Samsung plans to release several Android devices this year. Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, executive vice president of global product strategy in the company's mobile communication division, said Samsung's first Android phone is slated to launch in June outside the U.S.
Yahoo! BuzzU.S. consumers will have their pick of two other Android devices sometime in the second half of the year, Hong said. The two U.S. phones will go to two different carriers. The U.S. operators are likely to be Sprint ( S - news - people ) and T-Mobile, the only two U.S. carriers that have signed on to Google's ( GOOG - news - people ) Android working group, the Open Handset Alliance.
Due to operator preferences, the two U.S. Android phones will look "totally different," Hong said. In contrast, Samsung plans to deliver one Android phone, at least initially, to European consumers. "In Europe, you can launch one common device with several carriers," he noted.
Samsung is known for its ability to hustle important products to market. So why hasn't the company released an Android phone already? Hong said Samsung was waiting, in part, for a go-ahead from its operator partners. "Some operators were concerned about the vision Google has [and] that affected [timing]," Hong said.
Samsung also wanted to put its own spin on Android. Hong drew a distinction between devices built on the Android platform and "Google Experience" devices, which not only use Android but are also Google-centric, packed with the search giant's own applications. "Our commitment is more to the Android phone than the Google Experience device," Hong said. In other words, Samsung is doing plenty of customization work on top of the Android platform to make operators happy.
Hong says its carrier partners are content with the timing. "We are launching [Android] devices later than HTC, but in terms of our commitments with carriers, there is no delay at all," he added.
LG Electronics was more coy about its Android plans. "It's something we continue to work on," said Ehtisham Rabbani, the company's vice president of product strategy and marketing. "We have announced we will have Android phones this year."
Samsung's Android news may attract the most buzz, but the company is also excited about another operating system: the Linux-based software platform from the LiMo Foundation. Samsung plans to launch some eye-catching LiMo phones later this year. "The market has been waiting for good LiMo-based devices," Hong said.
Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation, confirmed that Samsung will release some notable LiMo phones in the third quarter of the year.
Despite a fanatical amount of interest from the tech media and early adopters, Samsung has mostly kept quiet about its plans to develop phones using Google's mobile platform, Android. But at the CTIA Wireless trade show, an executive shared with Forbes some details about the company's Android strategy.
Samsung plans to release several Android devices this year. Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, executive vice president of global product strategy in the company's mobile communication division, said Samsung's first Android phone is slated to launch in June outside the U.S.
Yahoo! BuzzU.S. consumers will have their pick of two other Android devices sometime in the second half of the year, Hong said. The two U.S. phones will go to two different carriers. The U.S. operators are likely to be Sprint ( S - news - people ) and T-Mobile, the only two U.S. carriers that have signed on to Google's ( GOOG - news - people ) Android working group, the Open Handset Alliance.
Due to operator preferences, the two U.S. Android phones will look "totally different," Hong said. In contrast, Samsung plans to deliver one Android phone, at least initially, to European consumers. "In Europe, you can launch one common device with several carriers," he noted.
Samsung is known for its ability to hustle important products to market. So why hasn't the company released an Android phone already? Hong said Samsung was waiting, in part, for a go-ahead from its operator partners. "Some operators were concerned about the vision Google has [and] that affected [timing]," Hong said.
Samsung also wanted to put its own spin on Android. Hong drew a distinction between devices built on the Android platform and "Google Experience" devices, which not only use Android but are also Google-centric, packed with the search giant's own applications. "Our commitment is more to the Android phone than the Google Experience device," Hong said. In other words, Samsung is doing plenty of customization work on top of the Android platform to make operators happy.
Hong says its carrier partners are content with the timing. "We are launching [Android] devices later than HTC, but in terms of our commitments with carriers, there is no delay at all," he added.
LG Electronics was more coy about its Android plans. "It's something we continue to work on," said Ehtisham Rabbani, the company's vice president of product strategy and marketing. "We have announced we will have Android phones this year."
Samsung's Android news may attract the most buzz, but the company is also excited about another operating system: the Linux-based software platform from the LiMo Foundation. Samsung plans to launch some eye-catching LiMo phones later this year. "The market has been waiting for good LiMo-based devices," Hong said.
Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation, confirmed that Samsung will release some notable LiMo phones in the third quarter of the year.
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