Google's Android platform: not so open after all | Hacker News Reader

Google's Android platform: not so open after all

arstechnica.com

22 pointsnickb14 comments

'Openness' has always seemed like a fragile foundation for a mobile platform. Mobile operators are the least 'open' companies out there, and they hold all the keys in this market.

If Android apps really are going to be unrestricted, then the first applications everyone will download are VOIP and SMS gateways. Are mobile operators really going to tolerate a platform that circumvents long-distance and SMS surcharges?

If they don't allow applications like this, Android doesn't really have much going for it relative to the iPhone.

Are mobile operators really going to tolerate a platform that circumvents long-distance and SMS surcharges?

You can use Skype on AT&T Tilt (or any Windows) mobile phones. It works with WiFi and 3G data network. People are downloading and using VOIP application on their mobile phones.

Are mobile operators really going to tolerate a platform that circumvents long-distance and SMS surcharges?

They might, if the alternative to losing surcharges is losing customers to the iPhone-exclusive carrier.

I don't know if Google is trying to test the new SDK on few developers before releasing it, but their development platform is not as open as they stated to be. Example: once I started developing and getting into details, I noticed applications are prevented from getting the current outgoing and incoming call data (http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/browse_thr...) This data is already available on other platforms.

I hate when Google acts democratic about web and its technologies when it clearly shows they are getting ready to be autocratic.

All Warfare is based on Deception - Sun Tzu, Art of War

Google = Microsoft 2.0

(same tactics)

I wonder in how many of those 50 finalists is google investing on, therefore giving them a huge leg up while the rest is left with outdated SDKs.

Google obviously values the market more than the ethics. As any self respecting company should. Playing in the mobile arena is better for Google than not playing at all. We chose to allow service providers to arbitrate the network and it's not as if our loyalty has anything to do with Google's success?

Consumers are swines. The pile of crap that this world is today is testament enough.

We thought of Google as good guys in a mean world, We felt good with Google's success in the early years. I have personally recommended Google to at least all the people i know of(ball park figure might be around 100). Our loyalty was very important for Google's success, which they might be glad to deny now. For the first time, Microsoft looks like a better company than Google when it comes privacy issues(they don't go around selling personal details of users),openness and being truthful to users(they accepted they made a huge mistake with Vista).

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people(Google) into thinking they can't lose.

Why would you even want to develop on someone's corporate platform to begin with? Apple or Adobe or Microsoft or Google or whoever... In the end, you always get fucked, either by your "patron" or by market forces, when your "platform" loses out.

This ain't 90s anymore.

Other than openmoko, that platform is???

Whatever happened to openmoko? They appear to have released actual hardware while I wasn't looking! Does anybody have one, and how do they like it?

I ran across this review the other day

http://blog.wolfman.com/articles/2008/07/11/openmoko-freerun...

Sounds like it's got a lot of promise, but a long way to go before it's ready for mainstream use

Hadn't seen that one, thanks. The most thorough review I've found so far is the Ars Technica one, which is older but comes to similar conclusions:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/open-moko-software.ars

I have one, and the software isn't very stable, but the device itself is great, and the display is amazingly beautiful and crisp (640x480, 280DPI FTW). Some things like waking up from suspend is hit or miss (just like on desktops/laptops), wifi setup is not yet integrated with any of the software, and there seems to be a lack of coherence on the development front.

However, it's a very promising platform, and the hackability of the device is out of this world. There are already people who have put Debian installs on their SD card to boot from, and use a full XFCE interface to run it more like an internet tablet than a phone.

The device allows developers to create applications in Gtk, Qt, or any other widget toolkit, using any of a wide variety of languages. Users can ssh into their phone over USB or Wifi, and update/upgrade packages, add new package repositories, and do anything you could ever do on any other "normal" Linux system.

While the current software array is lacking, there is a driving effort to create an overarching D-bus framework (freesmartphone.org) that will allow any application in any language/toolkit to access the same system functions, data storage, and more, as a single set of consolidated D-bus APIs.

Overall, I don't consider it stable enough for an everyday phone, so I have a secondary prepaid SIM in it for testing and development until I feel that it can fully replace my real phone. However, I know there are also a lot more people that already use it as their only cellphone, and they are very happy with it. I wouldn't yet recommend the device for anyone who isn't a Linux junky/developer, but hopefully the platform will stabilize soon enough that I can change my mind.

All hail freedom!

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