John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

UPDATE: Google Didn’t Cancel Beijing Nexus One Event

[This post was updated at 10:02 to reflect new information from Google.]

So, turns out Google didn’t cancel the Beijing event at which it planned to evangelize its new Nexus One Android smartphone. It couldn’t cancel because the company had never arranged to hold an Android event in Beijing in the first place. Asked to comment on a Reuters report claiming Google’s roadshow was skipping the Chinese capital, a company spokesperson told me that the report is erroneous.

“The reports are incorrect,” she said. “There was not a Nexus One launch event scheduled in Beijing. Google is hosting 3 Android Developer Labs in Asia over the next couple weeks in Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong. These are technical events for developers who want to build applications for Android. We never planned to hold an Android Developer Lab in Beijing, and suggestions that we did plan one are not true.”

And indeed, according to a schedule posted to the Android Developers blog, Beijing was never an Android Developer Lab location, at least not as of Jan. 22, the post’s date of publication.

Elaborating, the Google spokesperson said, “Regarding the distribution of Android phones in China, nothing has changed. Android is an open source mobile platform, so anyone can bring Android-powered devices to market. At this time, we are postponing the availability of Google mobile applications on Android devices from operators in China.”

All of that said, it seems odd and perhaps noteworthy that Google would plan a Nexus roadshow in Asia that includes Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong, and not include China’s capital city, Beijing.

My original post on the Reuters report below.

Google’s deteriorating relationship with the Chinese government is proving to be a real drag for software developers in the nation’s capital. The search giant has, according to Reuters, canceled the Beijing event it had planned to evangelize its new Nexus One Android smartphone. So while the Nexus One roadshow will stop in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it’s skipping the Chinese capital. Said a source close to the company: “If Google did not have such an issue with the Chinese government, they would have conducted a similar event in China too.”

Google has already delayed the launch of two Android phones in China, though Beijing insists it does not intend to limit use of the operating system in the country.

I’ve asked Google for comment on the matter and will update here if I’m offered one.

UPDATE: Google finally got back to me with a comment on the Reuters report, which it says is inaccurate. The company did not cancel a Nexus One event in Beijing, it explained, because it never planned to hold one there in the first place. And indeed, according to a schedule posted to the Android Developers blog, Beijing was never an Android Developer Lab location–at least not as of Jan. 22, the post’s date of publication.

“The reports are incorrect,” a company spokesperson told me. “There was not a Nexus One launch event scheduled in Beijing. Google is hosting 3 Android Developer Labs in Asia over the next couple weeks in Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong. These are technical events for developers who want to build applications for Android.

Elaborating, the spokesperson said, “We never planned to hold an Android Developer Lab in Beijing, and suggestions that we did plan one are not true. Regarding the distribution of Android phones in China, nothing has changed. Android is an open source mobile platform, so anyone can bring Android-powered devices to market. At this time, we are postponing the availability of Google mobile applications on Android devices from operators in China.”

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