Awaiting the Google announcement

finally announce its plans regarding the wireless telecommunications industry. It’s now 9 a.m., and we’ve heard nothing, which is only fueling the fire more. We’d expect the announcement in an hour or so, and we’ll post on it once all the information becomes available. But for now, a bit of speculation, courtesy of Amol Sharma of the Wall Street Journal. Today, Google will be “announcing an alliance with various handset makers and cellphone operators around the world that are willing to push its ‘open’ platform for cellphone applications, sources say.” Okay, so we shouldn’t be expecting the announcement of a phone, per se. It’s going to be partnerships and a rough game plan.

The U.S. carriers likely to be part of the announcement are T-Mobile and Sprint, according to our sources, but there could be others by the time Google says its piece. While Sprint appears to be agreeing to work with Google to put the Web giant’s new Linux-based open operating system into phones, T-Mobile will probably go even further: the company has worked with Google for months on plans to build Google-powered phones with a variety of Google software and applications. As far as handset partners for Google, Taiwan’s HTC is a likely bet, our sources say. Samsung, LG, and SonyEricsson are also possible, but we’ll wait and see the full roster.

Sharma also shares that we shouldn’t expect to see any devices until mid-next year. Than again, given the ambiguity of this “announcement,” we really shouldn’t expect anything. Hell, they might even go and delay the announcement, which would certainly anger those anxiously awaiting word of…well, anything. Check back around 10 EST. And then at 10:30, 11, and yeah, all day if that’s whatcha please. [Wall Street Journal]]]>