Google Witholds Android From China

Yet another chapter in the saga of China vs. Google opened up today.

Despite talks between the search engine behemoth and the Chinese government, Google announced today that the launch of two Android phones (previously scheduled for tomorrow) has been postponed.

The launch of the phones, from Samsung and Motorola on the China Unicom carrier, would signify the opening up of the Android mobile operating system to the previously untapped (and obviously HUGE) Chinese market. If Google continues to hold out, it could risk losing a lot more than face.

Here’s the timeline, updated:

• mid-December 2009 – Google and twenty other companies (reportedly including Yahoo!) suffer a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” that attempts to extract data on Chinese human rights activists. The Gmail account information of two activists are accessed, but not the emails themselves.
• January 12th, 2010 - Google announces on their official blog: “we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.“
• January 13th, 2010 – Chinese citizens hold an informal memorial mourning the imminent loss of Google.
• January 14th, 2010 – The Chinese Government puts IMDB.com on its list of inaccessible sites.
• January 14th, 2010 – China indirectly responds to Google by publicly defending its right to censor information and stating that companies in China must abide by China’s laws.
• January 14th, 2010 – Employees at Google China are given “holiday leave” and ” no longer have access to company systems.”
• January 18th, 2010 – Google and China commence talks.
• January 19th, 2010 – Google indefinitely postpones launch of Android phones in China.

Read More {AFP}

Read More {Engadget}

Read More {Mashable}