Samsung Planning More Android Phones

Two more Android devices are rumored to be headed out of Samsung's factory in addition to the Continuum smartphone launched in New York City. Leaked photos and reports are keeping the Nexus Two rumor alive, only now the phone is supposedly called Nexus S.

Best Buy briefly listed the phantom phone on its site, according to several Android-oriented blogs, but withdrew it. However, fans were able to note that the device has a four-inch AMOLED screen and a front-facing camera. T-Mobile is believed to be the carrier, and a November release is rumored.

The Nexus One, made by HTC, was pulled off the market last summer after Google's attempt to market and sell it without carrier stores went horribly wrong. Some blogs speculated that the Samsung Nexus device would premier last week at the company's media event that turned out to be the Continuum launch. A Samsung executive was quoted as denying plans for a Nexus phone.

At the same time, Engadget, the site that obtained leaked photos of Apple's iPhone 4 earlier this year, published shots of what it calls Samsung's "first half flagship" for 2011, an unnamed thin Android phone with a 4.3- or 4.5-inch Super AMOLED 2 display, a 1.2-gigahertz processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and running Android 2.3, Gingerbread. Speculation is that the phone could be unveiled at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain which begins Feb. 14.

Two more Android phones would bring Samsung's total to 13, tying with HTC behind the 18 offerings running Android made by Motorola, according to a 2010 list on Androphones.com. In 2009 Samsung made just four Android phones. Samsung also uses Android to power its Galaxy Tab tablet.

"Samsung is very aggressive in the mobile market and has the resources to do it," said Gerry Purdy of MobilTrax. "They realize this is a highly competitive environment and right now their products are doing well; they're growing the market. Having spoken with their management, I know they have a road map of products going into Asia, Europe and the U.S. to learn quickly what adapts to what market."

Purdy said, Samsung's careful marketing study shows "they don't plan to come in second to anyone. They're in it to win. It's a question of being sensitive to market demand and sensitive to things like hardware integration and the application environment working equivalent to what Apple has done with the App Store."

Another report on Android and Me, said the Nexus S phone had been scrapped by Samsung in favor of a dual-core phone that could compete with Tegra 2 phones that will debut early next year at the Consumer Electronics Show. The report said the dual-core phone is being held up by issues with Android 2.2.

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