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发帖数: 3838 | 1 One of the major talking points long used by Google in support of its
Android smartphone operating system
over iOS is its "open" nature that has allowed handset manufacturers and
others to tweak and customize the
software for their needs. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has argued that the "open"
nature would more accurately be
described as "fragmented" in justifying why he believes that Apple's "closed
" or "integrated" iOS is a better
platform for consumers.
Google executive Andy Rubin responded to Jobs' comments last October by
using his first ever Tweet to
define "open" as the code needed to get the Android source code installed
and ready for use by anyone
interested in it.
But as Android's popularity has taken off and the number of manufacturers
and devices utilizing it has
exploded, Google has begun tightening its control over the operating system,
perhaps recognizing that a
purely open system might in fact not be best for consumers and looking to
exert its influence over how
Android is presented to and behaves for users.
Last week, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Google has decided to hold
back from releasing the
source code for its new "Honeycomb" version of Android to the public,
claiming that the code is not yet
ready for public tweaking given corners that needed to be cut to bring it to
market to compete with the
iPad.
"To make our schedule to ship the tablet, we made some design tradeoffs,"
says Andy Rubin, vice-
president for engineering at Google and head of its Android group. "We didn'
t want to think about what it
would take for the same software to run on phones. It would have required a
lot of additional resources and
extended our schedule beyond what we thought was reasonable. So we took a
shortcut."
Rubin says that if Google were to open-source the Honeycomb code now, as it
has with other versions of
Android at similar periods in their development, it couldn't prevent
developers from putting the software on
phones "and creating a really bad user experience. We have no idea if it
will even work on phones."
Still, Rubin argued that Google has not changed its philosophy about Android
being an open source project.
Bloomberg Businessweek continued digging into the situation, however, and
yesterday published a report
outlining how Google has in fact been taking new steps to crack down on how
Android is being deployed,
moves that have angered some hardware manufacturers.
Playtime is over in Android Land. Over the last couple of months Google (
GOOG) has reached out to the
major carriers and device makers backing its mobile operating system with a
message: There will be no
more willy-nilly tweaks to the software. No more partnerships formed outside
of Google's purview. From
now on, companies hoping to receive early access to Google's most up-to-date
software will need approval
of their plans. And they will seek that approval from Andy Rubin, the head
of Google's Android group.
According to the report, Google has been increasing enforcement of "non-
fragmentation clauses" in recent
months, requiring partners to submit their plans to Google for final say on
their implementation. The
policies have ruffled some feathers in the industry, including at Facebook
and Verizon, where tweaked
versions of Android have been under development. Google's actions have
sparked a few complaints to the
U.S. Department of Justice, although it is unclear whether there is any
momentum for a coordinated push
back from manufacturers or regulators.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1128798 |
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