Google Android Phone

HTC handset launching by the end of year, It’s being reported that China Mobile, the country’s biggest operator, could be next to follow T-Mobile by offering a handset based on Google’s Android Platform.

According to industry sources in Taiwan, China Mobile could launch an Android-based phone manufactured by HTC, the company behind T-Mobile’s G1.

China Mobile is a member of the Open Handset Alliance as well as a partner in a Linux-based open mobile system called OMS designed specifically for the Chinese market.

It’s said that the operator was planning to launch an OMS handset before the end of the year, but delays have pushed this back to Q2 2009.

The sources suggest that as an alternative, China Mobile may look to HTC to be first with an Android handset with the plan to launch by the end of 2008. read[...]

Digitimes.com reports that as the only Chinese carrier that is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, China Mobile had planned to launch a Linux Open Mobile System device before the end of the year but because that plan has fallen behind, sources (which are unnamed and unverified in the report) have suggested that China Mobile may decide to first launch the G1 that will be compatible with their TD-SCDMA 3G standard.

In comparison to the iPhone, the G1 is certainly not as sleek or as sexy as the iPhone and does not include multi-touch technology but does provide direct music downloads from Amazon to compete with iTunes as well as Google Street View which would be completely useless in China.  read[...]