Phone Company HTC has decided to snub Australia by refusing to show their new Google Android phone which is being rolled out in London and New York tonight.
The Company has instead decided to launch the HTC Touch Pro which is basically the HTC Touch Diamond with a slide out keyboard. It also comes with the Windows Mobile operating system which is already losing ground to the Apple 3G iPhone and is set to lose more ground with the roll out of the Google Android phone tomorrow in New York and London.
The Company has refused to say why they will not show the Google Android phone in Australia or why they decided to launch a “tired old Windows Mobile” based phone 12 hours ahead of the global launch of the new Google phone dubbed the “G1”.
An external PR spokesperson for HTC said “We have no explanation as to why Australia is not introducing the Google phone. We know it is being launched in New York tonight. We have been given no reason as why it is not being shown at today’s press conference or why the HTC press conference was not held tomorrow after the New York launch”.
Research group Gartner claim that the new Google Android offering will account for 10 percent of the smartphone market in 2011.”Android has the potential to become the de facto operating system (OS) for Linux and we expect sales to reach around 10 per cent of the smartphone market in 2011,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a research note.
Cozza said that he expects some problems with early models: “The G1 is the first device coming to market supporting Google’s operating system Android. Although this will give us a taste of what the platform will be able to do, we are expecting some limitations given this is the first device.”
The new HTC Android offering labelled the “G1” is tipped to be available on the Telstra and Vodafone networks when it is initially launched in Australia. It is expected to be the same price as the recently launched 3G iPhone.
Leaked photos and videos of the anticipated device, show that it will have a touch screen and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard. It will also have an application downloader similar to the 3G iPhone. It will also have a built-in GPS (global positioning system) linked to Google maps and a tilt sensor and camera. It will also include Google’s new Chrome browser and Google Gmail, Google Docs and Google Maps.
The Times of London reported that at a conference last week, a senior Google executive pointed out that there are more phones than people being used in the UK, and this represented a massive opportunity for the company. They said that Google’s new operating system for mobile, Android, is expected to put Google’s new browser at the forefront of the G-phones, enabling the internet giant to tap into this audience.
They added that Google hopes to take the lead over Apple, by making Android “open source” – meaning that no-one will be charged to use it on their handset or for writing applications for it. This means that anyone can write programs that will run on an Andriod-powered phone.
