Google Android Phone

NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan’s largest cellphone operator, plans to sell a handset that uses Google’s Android software in the first half of next year.

DoCoMo president Ryuji Yamada made the comment at a press briefing in Tokyo yesterday. He also said the company aims to offer “close to 10” so-called smart phones next year.

Google formed the Open Handset Alliance in November to develop Android with more than 30 phone makers, carriers and chipmakers including DoCoMo, chipmaker Intel Corp, and cellphone manufacturer Motorola Inc Smart phones may help DoCoMo recover shrinking market share and challenge Apple Inc’s iPhone, offered by Softbank Corp.

Android is based on the free Linux operating system and is open to any programmer who wants to develop features for wireless devices. Software developers can build custom applications to run with the program.

In the past year, Softbank added three times as many new subscribers as DoCoMo, with KDDI attracting 50 percent more users. DoCoMo added a net 903,100 subscribers in the 12 months ended Aug. 30, compared with 2.6 million for Softbank and 1.3 million for KDDI, according to numbers released by the carriers. read[...]