Samsung, Google Delay Phone Launch in Honor of Steve Jobs

Apple CEO Steve Jobs passed away last Wednesday at the age of 56. Although Jobs had been suffering on-and-off from pancreatic cancer for seven years, the news of his death sent most people -- techies or not -- into a head spin. Virtually every media outlet and Apple fan have taken considerable time to remember the popular businessman and innovator. (Source: mercurynews.com)

To get an idea of how important Steve Jobs was to the tech industry, you don't necessarily need to focus on all the nice things said about him by U.S. President Barack Obama or fellow Apple founder Steve Wozniak. Just pay attention to the way other tech companies have reacted; in particular, the decision by Google and Samsung to delay revealing the new Nexus smartphone at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications conference in San Diego, slated for Tuesday, October 11.

Joint Samsung / Google Event Pushed Back

It's heavily rumored that the show would have included an unveiling of the new Samsung-built Nexus smartphone running an updated version of Google's Android operating system. It's believed this new Android melds popular features seen in both smartphone and tablet versions of the platform.

"Under the current circumstances, both parties have agreed that this is not the appropriate time for the announcement of a new product," Samsung revealed in a statement. "We would ask for the understanding of our clients and media for any inconvenience caused. We will announce a new date and venue in due course." (Source: informationweek.com)

Delay Not Related to Product

Neither Samsung nor Google would confirm that Nexus and Android were at the heart of the upcoming show, but Google representatives did tell the media that the delay was due to Steve Jobs' passing, and not because of a problem with their product.

The event's delaying will certainly disappoint fans of Samsung smartphones running Android.