mocoNews - Google Sees Strong Year For Android, But Sony Ericsson Is In No Rush

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Tricia Duryee

mocoNews.net
Monday, April 20, 2009; 2:00 AM

There's some discrepancy forming between what Google's CEO is saying about Android and what handset makers are saying.

Yesterday, during the Google's conference call discussing first-quarter earnings, CEO Eric Schmidt said that 2009 was going to be a very good time for Android. IDG News reports that Schmidt said: "Overall, it looks like Android is going to have a very strong year." But companies that have pledged their support to the platform, like Motorola (NYSE: MOT), have been silent when it comes to discussing their Android roadmap.

In addition, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) told Reuters today that it will take some time to build a handset based on Android. Sony Ericsson's CEO Hideki Komiyama said in an interview: "It does require a lot of evaluation, as well as a lot of testing, a lot of acceptance from a consumer viewpoint, and there is still some time to go." He did not provide a timeframe for when a device may launch, but reaffirmed his support for the platform. "Looking ahead I think that we see this as one of the important operating systems, there is no doubt," he said.

Schmidt said this year's Android-related announcements will include both phones and netbooks, and will be "quite significant." Schmidt said device manufacturers have started putting Android into netbooks without any prodding from Google (NSDQ: GOOG). IDG said Taiwan's Asustek Computer is rumored to be working on an netbook that uses Android, while other Taiwanese companies are also reportedly developing products.