Samsung: 3 Android phones, 1 LiMo device in 2009
updated 06:10 pm EST, Tue February 17, 2009
Samsung's 3 Android phones
On the heels of new phone introductions, Samsung on Tuesday said it would ship a total of three cell phones based on Google's open-source Android platform and that it would unveil at least one device using the open-source LiMo Linux software. A senior executive at the Korean company confirmed to Reuters that the the company would sell at least three devices based on the Google platform, which is largely seen as the mostly like to challenge to challenge Apple's dominance.
Last week the world's second largest cell phone maker also confirmed that the first of the Android-based phones would be delayed until the second half this year -- after it was originally scheduled to be available in the Spring -- and that there would not be a Android-based device on display at this week's Mobile World Congress in Spain.
Samsung's head of product strategy, Won-Pyo Hong, also left open the possibility that the company could sell at least one LiMo-based devices and more than three Android-based ones, but was not clear whether it would use the US or Europe market as the testbed for its first Android-based device.
The addition of a LiMo-based phone later this could increase the number of device operating systems the manufacturer utilizes to at least five, including rumored Symbian devices such as the UltraTOUCH and M7600, its own proprietary OS, Windows Mobile, and Google's Android.
Samsung's commitment to LiMo-based handset this year comes on the heels of the announcement last week by six new operators -- all of which committed to delivering LiMo-based handsets in 2009, including Verizon Wireless, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, SK Telecom, Telefonica and Vodafone. Of the 33 current LiMo-compliant handsets, about 10 are being showcased at Mobile World Congress.
