[UPDATE] Google Support of CDMA Galaxy Nexus Never Went Anywhere

[cereal killer]

Just a quick update on the article by a blogger that sent some VZW Nexus owners into a nose dive late last friday. As we reported on friday, it is still business as usual with the Galaxy Nexus, and there was never anything to worry about. Essentially Google cannot get distribution rights to the intellectual properties/software packages owned by the CDMA carriers, aka Sprint and Verizon, and that poses a "problem" for AOSP support.. Dan Morril, Android Engineer, gave a more in depth response to the assumption of Google no longer supporting the device. The lesson learned? It is better to wait on official confirmation than to run with rumor. Enjoy that Nexus folks!!

Hi, all! Thanks for all the questions. Here’s a quick omnibus to answer the
questions folks have asked...

First, just to be clear this change is only related to AOSP support for
these devices -- that is, personal custom builds. These are obviously still
officially-supported Nexus devices for everyday use, they will receive
official software updates, and so on. Similarly, these are still
fully-supported development devices for app developers.
Second, as I noted at the top of the thread, Nexus devices will still have
unlocked bootloaders, and we’ll continue to make available as many of the
closed-source binaries as we can. CDMA support in AOSP has always been more
challenging than GSM, and this change is a reflection of that reality.

On that topic, here’s a quick clarification on the core issue. Every device
has a number of closed-source software packages included on it. Though
Google distributes some of these binaries for Nexus devices for use with
AOSP, Google does not own the software. Rather, this software is variously
owned by the device manufacturer, the carrier, and their suppliers. We try
to get distribution rights for as many of these binaries as possible, but
in some cases it is difficult or impossible to obtain these rights. (CDMA
specifically has a tricky history of intellectual property.) Combined with
the technical issues of needing to sign the apks correctly, this has
prevented us from obtaining the distribution rights we need to support
these devices in AOSP.

Finally, we will of course continue to work on improving support. If we can
resolve these issues, we’ll certainly restore CDMA support to AOSP. In the
meantime, we’ve updated our docs to be more accurate about the degree of
support.
*
*
*I hope that answers your questions! For those of you with more technical
questions, JBQ’s posted with more gory technical details over on
android-platform --
https://groups.google.com/group/android-platform/browse_thread/thread...

Source: Google groups

 

[tjk629]

Just another Frantic Friday in the android world.

 

[Dave12308]

Actually, the real lesson to be learned here is simple. Google should have never made concessions to Verizon to get them to carry a Nexus device. If Verizon wanted to play games with this proprietary "CDMA" crap, then Google should have told them to shop elsewhere for a device.

I just KNEW that Verizon was incapable of making concessions to allow a FULL Nexus experience.

 

[captdroid]

Bah... some things never change

 

[g_what]

So what exactly does this mean? Is this basically saying that the GSM Nexus will receive updates, and our CDMA Nexus might receive the same updates?

 

[DesktopDevin]

It means google and lte nexus owners just got poop-chuted by Verizon again.

Damn our Gnex's have become even more of a VZW bastard child than the bionic.

No dock's, No support, sheetty reception, crappy accessories. Which has now lead to vendors who are now screwing people that have the lte version looking to use the pogo pins with misleading statements about products on their websites and even one (Fommy) actively deceiving people about the car and media docks.


Such a shame as this is a really great phone but it could of been a lot more .....never again will I buy a Samsung phone.

 

[pc747]

It actually means that the Galaxy nexus will continue to get updates. They can not make it AOSP but that will not keep the galaxy nexus from getting custom roms. In other words, continue to enjoy the nexus. You guys already have 4.04 roms and it has not been out 2 months yet.

 

[captdroid]

It actually means that the Galaxy nexus will continue to get updates. They can not make it AOSP but that will not keep the galaxy nexus from getting custom roms. In other words, continue to enjoy the nexus. You guys already have 4.04 roms and it has not been out 2 months yet.

+1 I do have 4.0.4 and liking it... thanks to BlackHat and posters leaking the 4.0.4 OTA

 

[g_what]

It actually means that the Galaxy nexus will continue to get updates. They can not make it AOSP but that will not keep the galaxy nexus from getting custom roms. In other words, continue to enjoy the nexus. You guys already have 4.04 roms and it has not been out 2 months yet.

So by not making the updates AOSP, they will all be "unofficial"?

 

[pc747]

So by not making the updates AOSP, they will all be "unofficial"?

Its no different then what CM does for cdma devices. Everything else is Aosp except the phone and other things from cdma device that is not aosp. Basically nothing has changed..its business as usual.

 

[techRob]

What is the significance of AOSP? I don't think I ever caught what that stands for, or I just forgot :unsure:

 

[Droid Firefighter]

Android Original Source Program (I think its program). It's what our phones run on.

This post is Incredible 2!

 

[g_what]

Thank you for the clarification

 

[g_what]

What is the significance of AOSP? I don't think I ever caught what that stands for, or I just forgot :unsure:

Android Open Source Project

 

[Stelv]

Yes and then most phones get skin interfaces jammed over top. Most phones have blur, sense, touchwiz, etc as overlays.

On a separate note its sounds like Google isn't going to provide the code for aosp on the cdma nexus in the future right? You will still get updates, just no aosp roms?

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