David Flynn26 May 2009, 3:00 PM
Sony Ericsson is staying away from Google’s smartphone OS until it’s better at multimedia, which it says means waiting until Android 2.0 is released.
Sony Ericsson was a little late to the Android party – it joined the platform’s Open Handset Alliance consortium more than a year after HTC, Motorola and Samsung signed up as founding members.
Now it looks like the company will be taking its time to introduce an Android-powered phone. Speaking at a product showcase in Taiwan, the company’s vice president of marketing Peter Ang said the focus for the short term was Windows Mobile and Symbian.
Sony Ericcson intends to add Android to that mix but is waiting for the 2.0 release, Ang said. “Android 2.0 will have more multimedia support that the previous Android OS.”
Multimedia is of course a critical area for Sony Ericcson, given the company’s investment in the Walkman and CyberShot series of phones.
Meanwhile, HTC will this week launch its second-gen Android smartphone in the
HTC Magic, which will be available through both
Vodafone and Three. The Magic joins the Optus-backed
Dream. There’s no word yet on Samsung’s plans for a local release of its
i7500.