Samsung to Release Google Android Handset in U.S.

Mobile device-maker Samsung is getting Googly, with the launch in the second quarter of next year of the second Google Android-based handset to hit the U.S. market.

That’s according to a report in Korea’s Electronic Times: "Samsung Electronics is currently in the development process of its new Google phone to release out in the second quarter of the next year via Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA in North America."

It’s not exactly a shocker: Samsung is a longtime member of the Google Open Handset Alliance, which is devoted to developing devices based on Google’s Android OS.

The addition of more Android devices could kick-start Google’s mobile proposition and usage of its Android Market application storefront. The market hasn’t seen an overwhelming uptake yet for the T-Mobile USA G1, Android-based handset that is the first “Googlephone.” But Samsung could bring something more compelling: It is, after all, the maker of Sprint’s Instinct smartphone, which incidentally is the best-selling handset at Best Buy.