Samsung plans Android phone for second half of 2009

Samsung has reportedly denied a rumored rollout of its first Android phone next week, saying instead that the phone looks likely for release in the second half of this year.

In an interview with the UK-based Guardian newspaper this morning, Younghee Lee, head of marketing for Samsung's mobile device division, reportedly said that, contrary to industry speculation otherwise, Samsung will not unveil a phone based on Google's Android platform at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.

Lee also said, though, that Samsung is "planning internally" for the release of an Android phone in the second half of 2009.

Could finding a wireless carrier for the Android phone be one sticking point? According to Lee, Samsung is now in negotiations with a number of network operators about taking the phone.

To date, HTC's G1 phone, launched by T-Mobile last fall, is the only Android phone with an announced relationship with a carrier.

Lee made the revelations about Samsung's Android phones during the UK rollout of the next generation of its Tocco touchscreen device, which will continue to use Samsung's proprietary SHP operating system.