Last Monday rumors surfaced that the Android platform and its phones will not be ready for release this year. But Google quickly denied the report, claiming: “We’re still on track to announce Android-powered phones this year. Some of our partners are publicly stating that they plan to ship Android phones in the fourth quarter.”

One of those partners is T-Mobile, who confirmed on Monday that its Android-based phone is still on track to arrive in the fourth quarter. Android leader Andy Rubin last week also confirmed that Android-powered phones will definitely be available in the second half of this year. One possible reason for the confusion is that various partners are writing the Android software. Google-partner Wind River System will debut their devices in the first quarter of 2009, according to Chief Marketing Officer John Bruggeman of Wind River. The company currently supports Linux in embedded computing devices, but will also support Android starting next year.

“When Android is open-sourced, we will support the entire stack,” Bruggeman said. “We’ve ramped up our infrastructure. We are resourced to be able to support Android and not just Linux–the messaging and telephony and e-mail and browsing.”

Labels: Google

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