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UPDATE: France-based Sagem Wireless said it does not plan to introduce an NFC phone this year running Google’s Android operating system, contrary to press reports and mention of NFC as a feature of the planned Netribe smartphone on Sagem's own Web site.

Sagem’s Cosyphone, announced in February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, will still incorporate NFC. But Sagem's Web site and press and blog reports stating that the Android-based Netribe would pack NFC were in error, Sagem Wireless told NFC Times, which also reported the story earlier today.

"Just to confirm, that is a typo on the Sagem Wireless site – it should not say NFC," said a Sagem Wireless press spokesman.

Details had been sketchy, but Sagem Wireless said on its Web site that besides packing Android and NFC, the Netribe would offer such features as solar-cell battery charging, biometrics and atmospheric sensors. It is due out this year.

NFC Times has reported that HTC of Taiwan has been working on an NFC-enabled Android smartphone. And rumors are ramping up that Apple will incorporate NFC in the next version of its popular iPhone, due out in mid-2010. An Android-based NFC phone from Sagem Wireless, while only a tier-two handset maker, would have been significant, since mobile operators in France and others markets where Sagem distributes phones, mainly in Europe, are keen for the arrival of new NFC models. 

For its Cosyphone, which will not be a smartphone, Sagem said it will target older subscribers. As such, the phone will enable users to avoid scrolling through menus to make calls, send text messages or access weather, traffic and other data services. They will simply have to tap the phone on smart posters or other surfaces embedded with RFID tags. The phone is scheduled for release in the third quarter.