Android 5.0 Lollipop Includes 'Ambient Display' Feature Inspired by the Moto X

[t3charmy]

With Lenovo taking over Motorola in the near future, I suspected that a lot of the Moto X features would get rolled in to stock Android.

The upcoming Nexus 6 is gonna be hard to deny.

Except the obnoxious screen size.

 

[Dusty]

Except the obnoxious screen size.

The Moto X or the Nexus 6?

 

[t3charmy]

The Moto X or the Nexus 6?

Nexus 6... I have the note 3 now, and I really dislike how big the screen is... I mean I understand what Google is trying to accomplish with making it so you only have to carry one device, but I'd rather not hold a tablet up to my face when trying to make a phone call.

I do like the size of the Moto X but sadly it's not available on Sprint..

 

[FoxKat]

Of course Google could do that. But I'll use these two as an example, Samsung doesn't want you to NOT use TouchWiz and VZW doesn't want you to NOT have their "bonus" apps (we all know that virtually no one uses them). The other roadblock is that they also don't want to spend money on paying programmers to install that junk on every update. They also don't want to spend money on customer support to resolve the inevitable problems with updates. So what do they do? They simply ignore low volume and old devices. If the the consumer doesn't like it the carriers just say, "Go buy another device." and in turn offer you another contract and new subsidized phone. The OEMs hope you continue to buy their junk because you don't feel like learning another deeply skinned interface. I really don't understand people buying non GP or Nexus devices.

Unless Google flexes their muscles or comes up with an alternative the situation we have now is all we're gonna get.

And I agree with your points regarding what the manufacturers want, but that isn't what's stopping Google from releasing a universally compatible version of the OS. Does Google care if the phones out there have the Blur or TouchWiz, no... Who's responsibility would it be to get those skins back - the manufacturers', and Google would have no liability.

True, the manufacturers don't want to pay programmers to build updates to reinstall the skins and overlays again, but Google doesn't care, and if Google did release a Vanilla Android to run on those old phones, manufacturers would have no choice if they wanted them to feel like the new ones or like they did when first released. Thing is, would the end users miss those skins or would they grow to accept and appreciate the pure Vanilla Android experience? I believe that many, perhaps the overwhelming majority would prefer the Vanilla. If that weren't true, then Apple wouldn't have such a strong hold on their market and still continue to exceed market expectations in sales and profits.

Humans by nature are creatures of habit and tend to shy away from change, especially as they get older. On the other hand, the young embrace change, customization and flexibility and so I believe Android that's why has grown so quickly.

Your last few lines hit the nail on the head. The phones are skinned so that one manufacturer will keep your business from year to year, given the hardware is relatively the same in many case. The carriers are subsidizing this because the masses (the average household), can't afford another $700 per household member per year to buy the latest and greatest. Problem is that by subsidizing their purchases, it winds up costing me more for just my service. That's spreading the wealth or risk among a larger pool but I didn't buy insurance, I bought cellular phone and data service, and so I shouldn't have to pay a higher price for that service just so the 5 members of the family living near poverty can get new phones this fall.

 

[FoxKat]

And my apologies to the thread and OP, but I've realized that I not only let, but participated in this thread being derailed. Please carry on with the original topic.

 

[Dusty]

On the original topic, I love ambient notifications.


Back to what you were saying, the problem Google has is that if they circumvent the OEMs and carriers and provide an openly available Vanilla OS install and update system for any phone they put themselves in a bad position. As soon as ONE customer complains that their device gets even SLIGHTLY messed up the carriers and OEMs can say that Google has cheapened their desired user experience. You see, the manufacturers and carriers can make their own product crappy, but the second an outsider does it the smiles turn upside down.

At that point you're eff'ing with their revenue stream. You're not just getting rid of their branded OS identity that ropes in the blind followers, but you're also dismantling the environment they've created to collect data (which they sell) and the revenue generators they've either established or are trying to cultivate. Mess with their money and you'd better hold on to your hat, because here come the lawyers. Big lawyers, little lawyers, young lawyers, old lawyers, lawyers on top of lawyers making more lawyers.... it would be a nightmare.

Google needs to maneuver themselves into a position to where the carriers and OEMs aren't running willy-nilly with the platform. That day might be closer than we think with Sammy trying to get traction with Tizen and VoLTE making carrier networks into something that's non-differentiated and ubiquitous.

 

[FoxKat]

On the original topic, I love ambient notifications.


Back to what you were saying, the problem Google has is that if they circumvent the OEMs and carriers and provide an openly available Vanilla OS install and update system for any phone they put themselves in a bad position. As soon as ONE customer complains that their device gets even SLIGHTLY messed up the carriers and OEMs can say that Google has cheapened their desired user experience. You see, the manufacturers and carriers can make their own product crappy, but the second an outsider does it the smiles turn upside down.

At that point you're eff'ing with their revenue stream. You're not just getting rid of their branded OS identity that ropes in the blind followers, but you're also dismantling the environment they've created to collect data (which they sell) and the revenue generators they've either established or are trying to cultivate. Mess with their money and you'd better hold on to your hat, because here come the lawyers. Big lawyers, little lawyers, young lawyers, old lawyers, lawyers on top of lawyers making more lawyers.... it would be a nightmare.

You make several good points, one being the lawyers. But don't the customers already get upset (smile turned frown), when things don't work right? Look at all the failed updates of past - even those that are "approved", bugs and stalling and all manner of issues.

And another point...these would generally be phones that are long out of warranty and no longer supported by the manufacturer or the carrier, so Google would have no greater risk of liability than Cyanogen does. By installing the "unauthorized" version of the OS, they would void their warranty even if it were a new phone, so once they did, they would have removed any recourse they have to either the carrier or the manufacturer, and by way of the disclosures they would sign/agree to with Google, they would relinquish any liability to Google as well. Besides, they could always flash back to the stock OS if they choose.

 

[victoriak68]

With Lenovo taking over Motorola in the near future, I suspected that a lot of the Moto X features would get rolled in to stock Android.

The upcoming Nexus 6 is gonna be hard to deny.

Lenovo taking over Motorola? I thought Google bought Motorola?

 

[Jeffrey]

Lenovo taking over Motorola? I thought Google bought Motorola?

They did.. Then sold it to Lenovo.

 

[dvjimatt]

The same could be said when Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich JellyBean & KitKat was released. "It'll work great on all these devices" they said.....then reality set in. Do you guys not remember any of this the past two years? LOL

S5 tap'n

Oh yeah I do..... I remember being stuck on 2.3.5 and couldn't use Apex launcher. And at that time that was the closest my moto x2 was going to get to ICS. Then came the Razr and we had ICS but spent most of my time searching how to get Google Now's Velvet.apk working on ICS. Its the same thing over and over. I'm rocking the LG G Flex but only on 4.2.2 with TWRP but don't wanna upgrade to KitKat due to we can't get custom recovery to work since the bootloader is locked. I've been back and forth from JB to KK and back but mostly on JB ,as much as I'm modding the thing I need that security. But I'm dying just to have the "OK Google Everywhere" like my Nexus 7 (2013). And its been running the Android L preview since the day the SDK dropped. So now I'm even more anxious to upgrade.

 

[dvjimatt]

On the original topic, I love ambient notifications.


Back to what you were saying, the problem Google has is that if they circumvent the OEMs and carriers and provide an openly available Vanilla OS install and update system for any phone they put themselves in a bad position. As soon as ONE customer complains that their device gets even SLIGHTLY messed up the carriers and OEMs can say that Google has cheapened their desired user experience. You see, the manufacturers and carriers can make their own product crappy, but the second an outsider does it the smiles turn upside down.

At that point you're eff'ing with their revenue stream. You're not just getting rid of their branded OS identity that ropes in the blind followers, but you're also dismantling the environment they've created to collect data (which they sell) and the revenue generators they've either established or are trying to cultivate. Mess with their money and you'd better hold on to your hat, because here come the lawyers. Big lawyers, little lawyers, young lawyers, old lawyers, lawyers on top of lawyers making more lawyers.... it would be a nightmare.

Google needs to maneuver themselves into a position to where the carriers and OEMs aren't running willy-nilly with the platform. That day might be closer than we think with Sammy trying to get traction with Tizen and VoLTE making carrier networks into something that's non-differentiated and ubiquitous.

Agreed ..... But what most people don't realize is that the dumbed down simple version we call AOSP or Vanilla is so much lighter weight and more simpler allowing the device to run faster and smoother. So in the long run the user that doesn't root or mod their device will have less issues and have a smoother device longer. There's something to be said for a full Android lollipop 5.0 OS being roughly 450mb to my T-Mobile LG G Flex stock OS being 1.4 gigs. Is there really a whole gig worth of features that day to day activities require or are beneficial for something other than telling your co worker " hey buddy, check this out. The page scrolls with my eyes. No seriously I'm not doing that. Here you hold it so you don't think its me. ". Really ? Give me Cyanogen or AOSP any day over air gestures and eye scroll.

 

[FoxKat]

Agreed ..... But what most people don't realize is that the dumbed down simple version we call AOSP or Vanilla is so much lighter weight and more simpler allowing the device to run faster and smoother. So in the long run the user that doesn't root or mod their device will have less issues and have a smoother device longer. There's something to be said for a full Android lollipop 5.0 OS being roughly 450mb to my T-Mobile LG G Flex stock OS being 1.4 gigs. Is there really a whole gig worth of features that day to day activities require or are beneficial for something other than telling your co worker " hey buddy, check this out. The page scrolls with my eyes. No seriously I'm not doing that. Here you hold it so you don't think its me. ". Really ? Give me Cyanogen or AOSP any day over air gestures and eye scroll.

Great points and reasoning. I really hope that lollipop is as universal as it's being implied. I want it on my OGD, D2, my HTC Evo 3G, and my Moto X (1st gen.).