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‘Major’ Non-Google Android Smartphone Coming This Year

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Skyhook Wireless CEO Ted Morgan says that his company will be part of a “major” non-Google Android smartphone launch at some point this year, however, now, it’s unclear as to who the company behind the launch actually is.

Morgan, in comments to Technology Review, stated that Skyhook is going to play a big role in the launch of an Android device that isn’t controlled by Google. Early speculation has the company behind the project as either being Facebook or Amazon.

Skyhook is the company that provides geolocation services for many devices, even ones that are unannounced, so it’s safe to say that Morgan knows what he is talking about.

'Major' Non-Google Android Smartphone Said to Be Coming This Year

Both Amazon and Facebook have, in the past, been rumored to have been developing smartphones. Amazon has already released the Kindle Fire tablet, a tablet that runs a heavily modified version of Google’s Android operating system.

The closest Facebook has come to releasing a phone was the HTC Status, a phone for AT&T that featured a physical Facebook button.

Morgan specifically mentions Amazon in the report saying:

“I’m spending a lot of time with companies forking Android. Nobody wants to just be a manufacturer for Google. You see that with what Amazon has done, where they made it their own, and you also see a whole host of manufacturers taking Android down their own path.”

He notes that manufacturers  are impressed with the success of Amazon’s route and that he expects other Android manufacturers to follow the same path in the days to come.

Would you rather have a smartphone from Amazon or Facebook?

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