Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc and South Korean partner KTF Co will jointly develop a smartphone using Google Inc software for launch next year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

DoCoMo is part of a global alliance to develop phones based on Google's Android platform and has been eyeing a launch in 2009.

DoCoMo owns 10 percent of KTF and the two companies have been jointly procuring handsets to cut costs.

DoCoMo aims to introduce the Google phone at a price about 20 percent lower than existing smartphones, as it will save costs on software development using the Android software, the report said.

The new phone would be the first Google phone to be sold by Japanese and South Korean carriers.

T-Mobile has already rolled out an Android-based phone called G1, made by Taiwan's HTC Corp, featuring a tough-sensitive screen, a computer-like keyboard, and Wi-Fi connections.