Cellular South will launch an Android phone this year

Cellular South said it will launch a smartphone before the end of the year running on Google's Android platform. The carrier is one of a few U.S. carriers to openly declare its intentions to jump on the Android bandwagon, and is certainly the smallest U.S. operator to date to do so.

The regional carrier did not provide any information on the device's introduction date, pricing, manufacturer or features, and said more information would be coming soon. However, the announcement does give Cellular South a point of differentiation among smaller carriers, and indeed, among U.S. carriers in general. Currently, T-Mobile USA leads U.S. carriers on the Android front, and will launch its second Android phone, the myTouch3G, in August.

Where other carriers stand regarding Android is less clear. Verizon Wireless reportedly will launch a Motorola-made Android phone by the end of the year. AT&T Mobility has been rumored to be considering Android phone launches this year, and Samsung is supposedly building an Android phone for Sprint Nextel. Currently, Sprint and T-Mobile are the only two U.S. carriers in the Google-led Open Handset Alliance.

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