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Another day, another Android

New cellphones based on Google’s Android software continue to flood on to the New Zealand market. The latest is Samsung’s Galaxy S i9000 ($999), whose signature feature is a huge 4-inch, high resolution touchscreen (Apple’s iPhone has a 3.5-inch display). Not everyone will love the way Samsung overlays Google’s software with its own widgets, however (in the same manner as Sony-Ericsson’s Androids (see NBR.co.nz/galaxy for more first impressions).

Reynolds: Android, Android, Android

The Galaxy S will initially be available only on Vodafone’s network. But look for Telecom to pick it up soon. Chief executive Paul Reynolds name-checked the Samsung to NBR at his company’s full-year results briefing – in the context of saying the i9000’s display was the best around (NBR’s correspondent was flashing his iPhone 4 at the time). Earlier, asked if iPhone would ever be officially added to Telecom’s handset range, Dr Reynolds replied, “There’s no specific obstacle. Obviously I can’t comment on commercial discussions but we are satisfied with our smartphone line up that’s focused on Google Android. We think it’s commercially an extremely strong offering for the business.” The Telecom boss may have neglected to mention Microsoft’s Windows 7 Phone or BlackBerry but he kept coming back to Android. He added, “We’ll major on Android devices moving up to Christmas and I’m very confident the path we’ve chosen has given us the right commercial outcome.”

Investment bank: Android, Android

A new report by US investment bank Piper Jaffray sees mobile phones based on Google’s Android software outselling Apple’s iPhone by next year. And “ultimately” Android phones (made by Motorola, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson, LG, HTC and others) will grab 50% market share. The report also predicts that the highest-profile Android hold-out, Nokia (which dumped its chief executive and installed a Microsoft veteran in his place this week), will eventually “cave” and release models based on Google’s software.

Huawei: Android, Android, Android

While Android phones are associated with the high-end of the New Zealand market at present, part of the reason for their runaway success in the US has been that many models cost much less than Apple’s iPhone. Now, China’s Huawei has lowered the bar still further, releasing an Android handset, the “Ideos,” with a 2.8-inch touchscreen that it expects phone companies to sell from $US100 ($138). A spokesman for Huawei’s Sydney office said the company was in talks with Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees.