If they are using AOSP, they can use it without any license from Google I think. If they want Google's apps, then they need license from Google. If Google wants to standardize the ecosystem and is cracking down on these manufacturers who mess too much with Android then I'm 100% on Google's side.
Google needs to be harder on these manufacturers for the good of the consumers, the ecosystem, and ultimately the manufacturers as well. What will the "Android ecosystem" become if they create bigger and bigger incompatibilities and make developers jobs that much harder?
If manufacturers really wanted to customize their own OS, then they would never even try using WP8. And Acer is one of the WP8 licenses, too. So Acer wants their cake and eat it, too? Sorry, but no. Google needs to take actions against further fragmentation, and for removing any opportunities Microsoft might have with their more unified OS.
> If they are using AOSP, they can use it without any license from Google I think.
I believe they can use the OS, but I don't believe they'd be able to use the "Android" trademark and logo. They'd have to call it something else, which'd probably cut sales dramatically.
I doubt it, but I wish they did. I think the Chrome/Chromium model is perfect for a corporation wanting to use open source and give back, while in the same time keeping full control of their software.
I wish Android worked like Chrome and Chromium. There should've been a version (Chromium-like) that manufacturers could use and do anything they wanted with it, and a version (Chrome-like) that could only be modified by Google alone, and be the only version Google actually promotes. They're sort of doing it with the "Google experience" Nexus devices, but that seems more like an afterthought more than something that was thought up from the beginning and as main strategy.
The most accurate comparison might be with Microsoft's "Signature" line of PCs sold at Microsoft stores. They carry OEM branding, but no craplets or OEM mods.
Instead of trying to build a Nexus brand, it might be more effective for Google to emulate the Signature program.
What about Google Play and all of the Android apps? Lose access to those and you have the Amazon marketplace and some fewer app stores. And I hear Google charges for access to Google Play and Google apps like Google Maps etc.
>If Google wants to standardize the ecosystem and is cracking down on these manufacturers who mess too much with Android then I'm 100% on Google's side.
Google needs to be harder on these manufacturers for the good of the consumers, the ecosystem, and ultimately the manufacturers as well. What will the "Android ecosystem" become if they create bigger and bigger incompatibilities and make developers jobs that much harder?
Err, is this related to this article?
>If manufacturers really wanted to customize their own OS, then they would never even try using WP8. And Acer is one of the WP8 licenses, too. So Acer wants their cake and eat it, too? Sorry, but no. Google needs to take actions against further fragmentation, and for removing any opportunities Microsoft might have with their more unified OS.
Again, I totally lost you here. What has using WP8 got to do with Android or Aliyun? How will Acer using WP8 fragment Android?
>and for removing any opportunities Microsoft might have with their more unified OS.
I thought this is considered anticompetitive and generally frowned on by the HN crowd(regardless of it being legal or not)? If Google does something like that while calling Android "open", it'll become a running joke.
Google needs to be harder on these manufacturers for the good of the consumers, the ecosystem, and ultimately the manufacturers as well. What will the "Android ecosystem" become if they create bigger and bigger incompatibilities and make developers jobs that much harder?
Devil's advocate: How has Kindle Fire hurt consumers? It hasn't but it has hurt Google. This is the same (minus the market share) like Microsoft saying to Samsung, Sony and Acer "Release Android phones and no Windows licenses for you" or something to that effect, considering the Google Apps /vs Android code.
Google needs to be harder on these manufacturers for the good of the consumers, the ecosystem, and ultimately the manufacturers as well. What will the "Android ecosystem" become if they create bigger and bigger incompatibilities and make developers jobs that much harder?
If manufacturers really wanted to customize their own OS, then they would never even try using WP8. And Acer is one of the WP8 licenses, too. So Acer wants their cake and eat it, too? Sorry, but no. Google needs to take actions against further fragmentation, and for removing any opportunities Microsoft might have with their more unified OS.