Samsung has plans to launch three Google Android mobile phones in 2009, finally confirming its plans to use the much hyped open source operating system.
The first Android-powered Samsung phone is expected to launch outside the U.S. market sometime in June. Despite not having access to the first Samsung Android phone, U.S. consumers will be able to pick up the other two phones, which are expected to be available in Q3 or Q4 2009.
T-Mobile and Sprint are the only two major U.S. service providers contributing to the Android Open Handset Alliance, so the phones will likely go to these companies. The phones will look "totally different," Samsung executive vice president global product strategy Dr. Won-Pyo Hong recently told Forbes.
"Some operators were concerned about the vision Google has (and) that affected (timing)," Hong said, when quizzed about why the company has taken so long to get a Google-based product to market.
Samsung is also adding its own touch to the Android platform, in an effort to try and widen the OS's appeal to casual consumers -- though exact details of what those additions might be was not released.
The Google Android OS has been popular among phone developers, but those involved in the alliance hope to see the OS expand away from phones and begin to infiltrate the netbook and notebook markets. It's not likely the OS will take significant marketshare away from Microsoft Windows, especially when the latest Windows OS is released, but it could still carve out a niche market for itself later down the road.
