Google denies Android delays

Google has denied that its much vaunted Android G-phone is behind schedule, insisting that the phone will be on sale by the second half of the year.

The phone ,which is rumoured to have a retail price of as low as £120, is nearly completed and a prototype version of the Android phone was showcased at the Mobile World Congress in February.

The Android is not a phone in itself; it is a software program developed using "open source software" - where the code is free to view and reuse giving it the potential to develop a limitless amount of features.

A spokesman for Google yesterday refuted claims that the phone was behind schedule.

"We are on schedule and we're very excited to see the momentum continuing to build behind the Android platform among carriers, manufacturers, developers and consumers," he said.

The G-phone will be competing directly with the iPhone, which Apple say sold four million units in its first 200 days - however sales figures in the UK were more disappointing, down five per cent down on expected levels.