Rumor Mill: Samsung launching Android phone in Q3

Samsung will likely launch its first Android phone in the third quarter, beating the other major handset vendors that are trying to get Android-based smartphones to the market, according to a DigiTimes report.

The report, citing unnamed market sources, said that the Samsung phone will be similar in design and hardware to the HTC Magic, the firm's second Android-based phone. Samsung has given few specifics of when it will launch an Android handset. Initial speculation that it would unveil such a device at Mobile World Congress in February turned out to be untrue.

Younghee Lee, the head of marketing at Samsung's mobile device division, said the company was "planning internally" to launch the device in the second half of the year. Omar Khan, Samsung's senior vice president of strategy for the Americas, told FierceWireless at Mobile World Congress that Lee's announcement was wrongly construed as a delay, and that the company's Android plans were still on track.   

HTC, meanwhile, has said it plans on launching at least two additional Android phones besides the Magic in 2009. Other vendors, such as LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson have committed to launching Android devices before the end of the year.

For more:
- see this article [1]

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