Mobile cell phone makers are scrambling to meet the deadline for Google Android.
Android also has not won broad support from large mobile-software developers, and some said it is hard to develop programs while Google makes changes as it finishes its own software.
By: Jack Foster
Jun 23, 2008 17:27 PM GMT
Mobile cell phones being developed by Google Inc and more than 30 partners based on software called Android will arrive in the fourth quarter, a schedule that some cellular carriers and program makers are struggling to meet.
Google had said in November that the phones would come out by the second half of 2008.
Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA expects to deliver an Android-powered phone in the fourth period, but Sprint Nextel Corp will not be able to, a person familiar with the matter said.
China Mobile, the world's largest wireless carrier with nearly 400 million subscriber accounts, likely will have its launch delayed until late this year or early 2009, the Journal reported, citing sources.
Android also has not won broad support from large mobile-software developers, and some said it is hard to develop programs while Google makes changes as it finishes its own software.
Managing the software development while giving its partners the opportunity to lobby for new features takes time, the Journal quoted Google's director of mobile platforms, Andy Rubin, as saying. "This is where the pain happens... We are very, very close," he added.
|
