Google Music, Android 3.0 To Launch Together This Year

Two of the most anticipated projects in development at Google should be rolled out in a coordinated fashion rather soon.  Android product manager Gaurav Jain indicated in a recent interview that Google Music and Android 3.0 will come out together in time for the holidays.

Zach Epstein deserves credit for coming across the interview, which was published by Israel’s Calcalist.  As for the contents, a (somewhat mangled) Google translation sure enough indicates that Jain said, "Google will combine music download service next version of Android launched for the U.S. holiday season."

That’s a pretty definite sign some cross-promotions will take place.  It’s easy to imagine how television commercials might work in both the new Android operating system (or at least the new phones utilizing it) and the availability of lots and lots of music via a cloud service.

Factor in the time of year, and it even starts to seem likely that we’ll see the largest Android advertising campaign to date.

Unfortunately for Google, as exciting as all that might be, the timing of the rollout could leave it at a disadvantage.  Epstein noted, "New rumors circulated earlier this week suggesting that Apple is on the verge of revealing the fruits of its Lala acquisition . . . .  These rumors suggest a September announcement for streaming iTunes service, which would be bad news for Google."

On the other hand, if Apple moves first, that might provide Google with an opportunity to address some of its competitor’s shortcomings.