Newsbrief: Google Android Delays, Nokia Buys LBS Firm, Infosys Patents

No Android Phones Until Q4, Sprint Maybe Scrapping 3G Android Phone?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has indicated that no Android based devices will be available until Q4 of this year after having estimated at launch that the OS would be available on devices in "the second half" of 2008. Quoting various unnamed sources, the article says that the expected T-Mobile USA Android phone launch in Q4 of this year is taking up so much of Google's resources that Sprint's own product is slipping to next year. An unnamed source also tells the WSJ that Sprint is considering scrapping its plans for an EV-DO based Android device and will instead focus on one that works on its soon to launch WiMAX network.

Nokia Buys LBS Company Plazes

Earlier today Nokia announced that it was going to buy up all the assets of Plazes, a small Berlin based company that has developed some location based services technologies. The company's software ties locations up with social networking, letting users tell people where they are (or were), and what they are doing. Nokia says that this will allow it to more easily tie in the 'where' and 'when' aspects of social networking into its platforms.

Infosys Putting 3D Cameras and Hologram Projectors into Phones

Last week a company named Infosys announced that it had received a patent for a technology that will allow 3D holographic projections to be created by a cell phone after taking a 3D photo with its built-in camera module. The 3D images are constructed by taking a number of separate 2D photos and using an algorithm to compute the 3D aspect that joins them all. The company claims that the technology should be available on cell phones by 2010. [via CNet]