Google schedules Android announcement for next week

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Fanning speculation that it could unveil a self-branded smartphone to challenge the way mobile devices have been sold, Google has scheduled an announcement for next week about its Android mobile platform.

Whether the event scheduled for next Tuesday will involve details of Google’s plans to market a heavily rumored “Google phone” — an HTC-built prototype dubbed the Nexus One was distributed to Google
employees recently — or will be about a bundle of software services or
applications built around the company’s Android operating system was
unclear to industry observers Tuesday.

“There has been a lot of back and forth about the
latest Android phone, so I imagine it could be something that has to do
with that,” said William Stofega, an analyst with research firm IDC.

Google, typically, was coy about its intentions in a terse invitation it released to media organizations Tuesday morning.

“With the launch of the first Android-powered device
just over a year ago, we’ve seen how a powerful, open platform can spur
mobile product innovation,” the company said. “And this is just the
beginning of what’s possible.”

Indeed, at a press event Dec. 7, Google
executives hinted at new smartphone services that would be unveiled in
the first quarter of 2010, including an early version of linguistic
translation services that would allow a smartphone to translate between
a wide variety of languages.

Google is well on
the way to offering the capability for people to use their smartphones
as a kind of “U.N. interpreter for everyone,” Matt Waddell, a member of Google’s mobile team, said in a recent interview with the Mercury News.

“You can literally imagine a scenario where you
speak Japanese and I speak English, but I can place a phone between us
and it can take care of all of the translation work,” Waddell said.

“We are on a trajectory to deliver that kind of
experience,” he said, although its full realization is probably several
years down the road.

But the timing of next Tuesday’s announcement, just before the Jan. 7 opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,
seemed calculated to steal some thunder from what bills itself as the
world’s largest consumer technology trade show. Tuesday, some analysts
and journalists were changing their travel plans to parachute into Mountain View on Tuesday, before going on to Las Vegas.

“The real question is, what is Google planning to do? I have a whole litany of questions,” said Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices with Current Analysis, who was looking to change his travel plans for a stopover in Silicon Valley to catch the announcement.

“Google
is an enormous consumer brand, and they have made a lot of progress
recently in the mobile space, and the question that comes up is, are
they going to build on this momentum, or are they going to shoot
themselves in the foot by doing something that competes with their
partners?”

Greengart was referring to media speculation that Google
as early as January would offer an “unlocked” smartphone, meaning
consumers could pick their wireless carrier, but might have to pay much
more upfront for the device — a plan that could cause friction with
phone manufacturers such as Motorola and Samsung with licenses to produce devices that run Google’s software.

Google’s investment in Android — coupled with Microsoft’s missteps in developing its Windows Mobile operating system — has helped undermine Microsoft’s position in the smartphone market. In the past year, Motorola has ditched Windows Mobile entirely for Android, and other phone manufacturers are making similar moves.

“This could be the best news Microsoft could possibly wish for,” Greengart said, “because you can’t compete with your licensees.”