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Android Phones Delayed

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the of-course-delays-are-unusual dept.

CommanderData writes "PC World reports that Google's Android phone rollout is facing delays. Originally expected to have handsets on the market and in consumers' hands this summer, it appears that Q4 2008 or even sometime in 2009 is more likely. Software developers are also complaining that programming is difficult on the Android platform due to regular changes being made by Google." Update 21:14 GMT by SM: Google has (via Google Watch) refuted widespread claims that Android will be late, so I guess only time will tell.

9 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Well it figures... by MadFarmAnimalz · · Score: 5, Funny

    They are probably waiting for the Duke Nukem Forever port.

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    1. Re:Well it figures... by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, actually, they were waiting for WINE 1.0 to be r....oh, nevermind.

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  2. Huge shocker by kriston · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Disorganization?
    Everything tagged "beta?"

    Welcome to Google.

    Have you released a product today?

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    1. Re:Huge shocker by zullnero · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The first thing you should be prepared for in the world of mobile phone development is that, half way through any product development (or especially right when you think you have a finished product), you must be ready for salespeople to burst in at any moment and demand that you "make it faster" or "prettier" or shoehorn in some proprietary technology because mobile phone X just was released and people were lining up to buy it.

      This is what sent Palm into limbo, made people forget about HTC and the WinMob phones, the Motorola Q and Razr...it just keeps going. I'm someone whose spent his entire career in the mobile arena, and I can say that this is one competitive business considering how much of a pain it is to reengineer a smartphone every year just to keep your head above water. Because if you don't keep improving and releasing, the industry writes you off. Companies as big as Google have been stymied and left behind as roadkill before and it'll happen again for sure.

  3. Not really by Kamokazi · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.thestreet.com/story/10419263/1/google-android-phones-coming-this-year.html

    PC World is reporting old news. Q4 08 has been the target for a while now.

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  4. This report is inacurate! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This report at PCWorld and WSJ today are *inaccurate*. Google always said that the "second part of 2008" will be the time that the first Android phone will get released, and now these guys are writing article saying that "Q4 2008" is late??? It's right up with the schedule if you ask me! Engadget also wrote about how these articles are either mischievous or simply wrong.

  5. New Paradigm For Them by geoffrobinson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While I'm sure Google is talented, providing an OS and API is new ground for them. I'm not sure what their culture is like, but I would think time to iron out the kinks would be expected for this type of thing.

    Apple/Next has been developing APIs for developers for years and have lots of lessons learned. Google is new to this. Give them time.

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  6. Rats! by monkeyboythom · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is not the android I was looking for!

  7. AND....... by scuba_steve_1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am also bewildered by the supposed reports of a schedule slip. Shoddy reporting.

    As far as "difficult to develop for?"...

    Well, let's start with the fact that the SDK will have been out in some form for nearly a year before we even see the OS released on consumer hardware...as opposed to one year AFTER the iPhone was released. Considering that fact, any comment on maturity seems overly harsh. BTW, this SDK runs on just about anything...also unlike the iPhone SDK...assuming that you received a blessing from Cupertino to get a copy.

    Let's also consider that an OS like Android is going to have to be far more robust and flexible than the iPhone OS. The iPhone, like the MacOS/Leopard/Snow Bunny OSes, has the convenience of running on only a small number of device architectures. Those architectures are finite and well-known by Apple. In contrast, Android must be an OS that supports a wide range of ever-evolving architectures and feature sets...or lack thereof.

    This complexity extends from the OS to the application development environment. When you write an application for the iPhone, you know the exact screen size and available resources. Not so for Adroid. Your UI must scale...or be lowest common denominator. You may leverage supporting peripherals like a camera, GPS, trackball, physical keyboard, SD card slot...but then again, you better be prepared for them not to be there. Processor? Memory size? There may be min specs, but having to build an OS that runs on the expected range of offerings is not trivial.

    Masking some of this complexity is a task for the Android OS developers...which is why it is inherently more complex than an OS for a finite set of devices...but it is worth it...at least to the consumer...by fostering an environment that motivates hardware innovation by a range of competing vendors.

    Seriously folks, let's not be disingenuous and just pretend that the only difference between the iPhone and Android (or the MacOS and Windows) is Apple's genius.