Here in the U.S., your choices in phones running Google's new Android operating system have been limited. If you weren't a fan of the T-Mobile G1 form factor - a design best for heavy texters thanks to its slide-out keyboard - you were pretty much out of luck. No more. Word has it that Samsung will soon be releasing their own Android smartphone for use on both the T-Mobile and Sprint carriers. ]]>
According to TechRadar, a company representative for Samsung confirmed that they will be speeding up the development of their own version of an Android-powered device in order to stay competitive in the mobile phone market. The phone will debut sometime in 2009 and will be available for T-Mobile and Sprint customers.
Beyond that, everything else about the news appears to be speculation, including the phone's supposed June 2009 launch date. However, we're inclined to believe the rumor about the phone's form factor (or perhaps we just want to believe it). Some sources report that the new phone will resemble the Samsung Instinct, a currently popular touchscreen phone that features Power Vision Services, Sprint's over-the-air TV offering. Other rumors point to the phone being a closer match to the Omnia, a phone initially made available in Asia and Europe, and is now with Verizon. Either way, the rumors point to the device being a touchscreen with no slide-out keyboard.
That seems plausible enough to us since the keyboard-equipped G1 is already already available on T-Mobile, one of the carriers which would sell the new Samsung device. The company probably wouldn't want to launch a phone that was too similar to the other Android phone. It's also likely that they would want to capitalize on the success of their previous models, too.
If any of the rumors are true, there's a good chance that the new phone will be introduced at next month's Mobile World Congress, the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, held in Barcelona. Until then, we'll just have to cross our fingers and wait.
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