Google not nixing Nexus One event in Beijing
The company rebuts a report that it would skip China's capital on its smartphone road show, saying it had never planned an event there.
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 that nation's capital.
The search giant has reportedly canceled the Beijing event at which it had planned to evangelize its new Nexus One Android smartphone. So while the Nexus One road show will stop in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is 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 the OS's use in the country.
I've asked Google for comment on the matter and will update here if I'm offered one.
Update 11:23 a.m. PDT: Story recast to incorporate Google's response that it had not canceled a Beijing event for the Nexus One, saying that it had never had such an event planned in the first place.