Google’s mobile platforms chief has said there could be up to 20 Android based smartphones hitting the market this year from several different manufacturers.
Andy Rubin, the director at Google heading up developments around the Android operating system, confirmed for the first time today to the New York Times that new handsets were in the pipeline.
They will add to currently available Android based models from T-Mobile and HTC, and are most likely to include certain Google applications on the phone, Rubin has suggested.
Supposedly a phone called Lancaster is already being readied for AT&T by HTC, maker of the G1 Android phone.
More details are expected to come from the Google I/O Developer Conference, running in San Francisco today.
Other news coming out of Google I/O is that Spotify, the hugely successful European streaming music service is being engineered to work on Android powered mobile devices.
The company has run a demo showing how an Android phone can access the web-based music service and synch with tracks held in a Spotify account so that they can be played offline in playback mode.
Nothing is being said about the timing of any release, and it is unclear at this stage whether the offer will be subscription-based or advertising driven.
Earlier in the month Daniel Ek, Spotify’s chief executive said the company was in talks with mobile network operators and handset manufacturers about offering the music streaming service as part of a package.
