Interesting article on Android phones

[JessiesGirl]

Sent to me by a die-hard Apple lover, so take as you will:

How Carriers and Phone Makers Are Strangling Android (And How Google Could Save It) [Rant]

[928Droid]

One of the "smarter" articles about Android in the "real world" I have read, thanks for sharing.

[LordKastle]

"Without a carrier"...except for the fact that T-Mobile is the only carrier who has given Google the okay to sell it directly and that it is not receiving 3G speeds on the AT&T network...oh and that Verizon already said no to it so we will not seeing it and it will not exist on the Sprint Network. Like I said in another post...Google has failed in its attempt to produce an "Unlocked phone" in which they could sell directly. Verizon was basically the lone-safe guard against a monopoly of this kind occurring and they had the courage to say no.

This article is more of an attack on HTC, ironically enough they are being paid by Google to produce this phone...and why you ask? "Sense UI"...Motorola's Droid is raw Android OS, while the thousand of HTC phones being released this year all have the core of the Android OS edited to produce "Sense UI".

Think this was posted already though.

[Martin030908]

Fragmentation is an issue with out a doubt. HTC is the only one 'adding' to the Android (Google) OS. I agree with Kastle... more of a knock on HTC, which is fine... after the Beautiful Widgets fiasco and now that they're asking to pull the app indefinitely to review it I hope they choke on their own UI. LOL

[joshua117]

Thanks for the article, i believe i have read it before but still an interesting take on it. now as the droid is my first android based phone i can not actually speak for the validly of this argument, however this has been an issue for every os ever developed (for computers and smart phones). it feels like the writer is taking a very bias stand and overstating the problem at hand. there will always be updates to solve third party software and if not, well if whatever improvements are made justify the upgrading to a new phone well i (and most people as the iphone has already proven) be getting a new phone. and besides i don't think i have ever gone more that two years without trading up anyway.

[nyyfan]

so i guess since the droid runs plain android, and there is seemingly no reason for google to withhold 2.1, that the question lies with Verizon as to whether we will be pushed an update to 2.1?

[LordKastle]

There is no question whether 2.1 will be released on the Moto Droid. It will be.

Verizon and Google need to make sure the flagship phones of each carrier are updated to support most apps and games.

[bass_lover1]

Fragmentation is an issue with out a doubt. HTC is the only one 'adding' to the Android (Google) OS. I agree with Kastle... more of a knock on HTC, which is fine... after the Beautiful Widgets fiasco and now that they're asking to pull the app indefinitely to review it I hope they choke on their own UI. LOL

Not entirely true. Motorola added MotoBlur to the Cliq/Dext, which also run on Android.

[takeshi]

"Without a carrier"...except for the fact that T-Mobile is the only carrier who has given Google the okay to sell it directly and that it is not receiving 3G speeds on the AT&T network...

GSM carriers don't need to approve devices that aren't sold through them. GSM users regularly take devices from one carrier to another or take unbranded devices to whatever carrier they want.

However, lacking at&t's 3G band doesn't help the Nexus One.

Though, as the article mentions, there is a plus to getting the device directly from Google -- no middle men when it comes to updates. Considering the many, many posts on various Android forum sites titled something along the lines of "Is the X.X update coming to [insert your Android device here]?" I think many would find that to be a considerable plus.

Verizon was basically the lone-safe guard against a monopoly of this kind occurring and they had the courage to say no.

What "monopoly" are you speaking of? Nexus One won't make the other Android device makers (past or present) cease to exist.

This article is more of an attack on HTC, ironically enough they are being paid by Google to produce this phone...and why you ask?

Sense gives HTC a bit of a niche in the Android world IMO. I don't know if I'd say it was an "attack". I'd say it's difficult to tell if, per the article, Google is trying to reign in the OEM's or if it has other intents in mind with Nexus One. There's really not a lot of hard information and lots and lots of speculation and hype.

[Martin030908]

Fragmentation is an issue with out a doubt. HTC is the only one 'adding' to the Android (Google) OS. I agree with Kastle... more of a knock on HTC, which is fine... after the Beautiful Widgets fiasco and now that they're asking to pull the app indefinitely to review it I hope they choke on their own UI. LOL

Not entirely true. Motorola added MotoBlur to the Cliq/Dext, which also run on Android.

thank you for the correction!