Toward a freer Android [LWN.net]

Toward a freer Android

Posted Oct 6, 2009 21:13 UTC (Tue) by maks (subscriber, #32426)
Parent article: Toward a freer Android

Intel guys at the Linux Plumbers were telling that Google is pretty anal about Android. They require the phone to have a special look and a hardware set pretty similar to what is already out (once you brand it as Android, but that is what the market is looking for). Too bad if android would loose by freezing tech progress due to stupid $big_company_stupid_law_enforcement.

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Toward a freer Android

Posted Oct 7, 2009 8:29 UTC (Wed) by nedrichards (guest, #23295) [Link]

I believe those are for the 'with Google' closed source parts mentioned above.
Manufacturers who want to do their own thing with the UI (like the HTC Hero
and Motoblur) aren't allowed to ship those closed source apps (apart from the
Market).

Toward a freer Android

Posted Oct 7, 2009 12:45 UTC (Wed) by Aissen (subscriber, #59976) [Link]

I believe those are for the 'with Google' closed source parts mentioned above.
Manufacturers who want to do their own thing with the UI (like the HTC Hero and Motoblur) aren't allowed to ship those closed source apps (apart from the Market).

It's not as simple as that. The HTC Hero includes all Google Apps and, so will Motorola DEXT/CLIQ with Blur. There are three levels of connection with Google:

1- having the "with Google" logo. Google will impose you to have an almost same-as-original Android build. Upgrades will be Over-The-Air (OTA), from Google servers, in collaboration with your Carrier. G1 in the US and Magic in Europe (for example) are at that level.
2- having Google Apps, but no special logo. You can therefore have your own interface, like the Hero or Dext. Or keep the stock android UI like the Samsung Galaxy. I guess you must be tied with Google and there must be some secret agreements (as in Level 1) to be at that level. There's no OTA on this kind of phone/device (maybe a carrier/manufacturer will prove me wrong?)
3- no link at all with Google. You can ship whatever you want. No proprietary Google Apps(Market, Maps, Calendar, Gmail, Talk). The Archos 5 IT is at that level (for now).

Toward a freer Android

Posted Oct 7, 2009 16:26 UTC (Wed) by Baylink (subscriber, #755) [Link]

> once you brand it as Android

Nobody brands *anything* as Android, which point someone recently made as a bad thing, somewhere in the press. Everone shipping an Android phone has a different name for it; sometimes *two* different names. (G1, MyTouch)