News.blog: Android phones pushed to end of year

Last we heard, we'd be seeing phones powered by Google's Android open-source software in the second half of 2008. A report on Monday from The Wall Street Journal has narrowed that down somewhat: Those handsets will start appearing in the fourth quarter of this year, a later time frame than expected.

And according to the Journal, some handset manufacturers are 'struggling' to get Android on track even for a fourth-quarter launch. Sprint Nextel and China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier, reportedly won't be able to put out Android-powered phones until next year. Other carriers, like T-Mobile, claim their Android phones are still on track.

Some developers of mobile applications, on the other hand, have been sidetracked by the announcement of the iPhone 3G, the second-generation version of Apple's ubiquitous handsets. With a lower price point, a developer kit already released and a concrete launch date of 11 July -- not to mention faster Web access and a built-in GPS chip -- the appeal of the new iPhone may have pushed Android to the back burner for some companies.