• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, June 23, 2008 11:30 AM

Android-powered phones suffered a setback on Monday, as Google was forced to concede that handsets bundled with the new mobile operating system now won't arrive until the fourth quarter. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is dedicating so much time developing T-Mobile USA's line of Android-powered phones, that Sprint Nextel and China Mobile, the world's largest wireless carrier with 400 million subscribers, may be forced to wait until next year.

Meanwhile, the Android software is proving difficult for third-party developers, too, forcing Google to make changes to the Android API before the software has even been finalized.

This, of course, is good news for Apple, which unveiled a faster 3G iPhone earlier this month. Apple, which controls both the hardware and software development of its device, isn't faced with as many technical issues as Google, which has to work with many different hardware, service and software providers to support its mobile OS. Many carriers, for example, want to be able to customize Android phones to feature their services. "This is where the pain happens," said Andy Rubin, director of mobile platforms at Google. "We are very, very close."

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »