Google phone on the way: analyst

Comments by a US tech analyst have sparked a fresh round of speculation that Google will build its own phone.

Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar told his clients he expects Google to launch a self-branded smartphone by the end of the year, and a netbook in 2010.

Kumar predicts that the handset will run on Android OS 2.0, and be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, GigaOM said.

But with dozens of Android-based phones about to be launched, it's uncertain whether Google would risk competing with its handset partners.

But Kumar told the Financial Times that he had spoken to the original device manufacturers in Asia which Google has lined up to produce the phones.

Google's planned netbook will run its Chrome OS, not Android, Kumar added.

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