AT&T announced Jan. 6 that it plans to launch five new Android devices
from Dell, HTC and Motorola in the first
half of 2010. While T-Mobile and Verizon have made Android-based phones an
intrinsic part of their product lineups, AT&T's announcement marks the
carrier's first foray into Android devices.
AT&T, which is the exclusive U.S.
distributor of the wildly popular Apple iPhone, also said its goal is to lead
the industry in smartphone application choices by offering access to all major
application stores.
Among the new device offerings planned by AT&T are Dell's first Android
smartphone and phones by Motorola and HTC,
which will also be based on the Android platform. As with the iPhone, customers
will be able to talk on the phones while surfing the Web.
In addition, AT&T also announced "an agreement with Qualcomm to
standardize apps development for midrange Quick Messaging Devices using BREW
Mobile Platform. These devices are used by ... customers who historically have
not had the same convenient access as smartphone customers to the market's
hottest apps."
Quick Messaging Devices are lower-priced integrated mobile devices designed
with a focus on texting. "They have full QWERTY keyboards, either physical
or virtual, and ... full Web browsing capabilities," AT&T said in the
Jan 6. news release. "AT&T Chief Marketing Officer David Christopher announced
plans to begin rolling out Quick Messaging Devices with BREW Mobile Platform in
the second half of the year, so that by year-end 2011, about 90 percent of
AT&T's devices in this segment are planned to be based on BREW."
The company also said, "Samsung will be [AT&T's] first device maker
to launch a Quick Messaging Device featuring BREW Mobile Platform. HTC,
LG and Pantech also are building devices featuring BREW Mobile Platform for planned
availability in late 2010 or early 2011." According to AT&T, "Customers
with these devices are more likely to demand apps [and] subscribe to messaging
and data plans, and are a large potential market for application developers."
"Applications help consumers realize the full value and
benefits of mobile broadband networks, services and devices," Ralph de la
Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility
and Consumer Markets, said in a statement. "Today some AT&T customers
can take advantage of more than 100,000 apps—but only if they have the right
handset. Our goal is to bring more apps to millions more of our customers who
want convenient access to the market's hottest apps. At the same time, in the
future, we plan to go well beyond mobile devices to spur apps
development."
AT&T said it will "preload the corresponding store for each
device—giving customers convenient access to thousands of apps optimized for
their smartphone." AT&T also said it "added to existing
agreements with Nokia for Ovi Store and Microsoft for Windows Marketplace by
announcing an agreement for Android Market." The carrier said it "expects
to announce more app store agreements in the near future and will offer carrier
billing ... for as many stores as possible."
"Today, developers must essentially rebuild apps for different handsets
and operating systems, increasing their costs, slowing the pace of innovation
and stalling the delivery of mobile apps to customers," Christopher said.
"We want to tear down the barriers and make it much easier for developers
to reach our customers—and for our customers to access apps. Moving to one
platform for this fast-growing segment of devices will help developers reach
millions more customers who want easy access to the hottest mobile apps."
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