Samsung, LG to Unveil Google Phone by Year's End
By Kim Yoo-chul
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.
yckim@koreatimes.co.kr