NEW YORK - New mobile 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, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Google had said in November that the phones would come out by
the second half of 2008, the Journal reported.
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, according to the Journal.
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, the Journal reported.
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. He also told the
Journal: "This is where the pain happens... We are very, very close."
Google was not immediately available for comment. - Reuters
