There will certainly be a “core” group that sticks to Google’s rules, and Google does have a compatibility test suite, but the definition of openness allows for differentiation.

And you know cell phone makers and carriers need to differentiate to gain and hold onto customers.

Frankly, I don’t see a difference between the way Java code has developed and been licensed and how Android will progress in the future.

I don’t see this move by HTC as a problem though. The entire Android system is customizeable, even to the point that you can replace the default “Shell” or Home as it is known in Android. What HTC is doing is an extension of Android. It is akin to Microsoft adding Winforms hooks to MS-Java before Sun had worked on and created Swing. As much as I love Android, there needs to be exchange support if it is to become an enterprise platform. If that is handed 3rd party because Google isn’t going to pay licensing fees to add it, then this seems like the way to go.

This will not fracture the Android platform because the change isn’t being made to Android, only to the intents and services.

I am not a fan of Apple’s “closed source” mentality. I root for Wimo 7 and hope that they merge their best with the ZuneHD. As I stated in the original post, I applaud Android for their open standards and love how the community is carrying the baton.

No matter how you slice it, in a side by side comparison, Wimo 6.5 is gonna come in last.

I think the article highlights a key point and the strategy of the iPhone, make a common platform, controlled by one organisation and then allow all development into it through managed means.

Android is a step in the right direction, but *personally* I feel that the UI should be locked to the key players to provide a standard core and interface for all models and applications should be configurable to plugin into customisable areas.

Anyway, this is all irrelevant when then palm pre comes out.. :)

1. obviously you don’t use linux…open source is better for everyone, there is just no way around it. Say for example, I bet your using firefox right now…

2. The point is that the android marketplace like the apple app store draws in developers and guarantees them an easy way for their products to reach thousands of customers instantly without hardly any effort. WM at this point in time can’t do that, I know there are tons of apps out there for the platform, but it’s not like every average joe out there knows about them or better yet how to get them.

3. Actually, every android phone out there includes Google software(pshft what am i saying, android is google software in the first place!). They just don’t sport Google branding like the G1. That is besides the point anyways…it’s basically Googles’ platform they’ll see to it it doesn’t screw up.

4. In case you haven’t noticed, multi-touch is kinda the new “thing” in mobile devices. WM at this point has no multi-touch support at all(yes, WM7 will be and I patiently await its arrival, but forget WM6.5, the devs themselves say it was rushed and is bad)…just to name a big one, there are many more if you want to get into specifics.

2. The merits of the Android marketplace can be debated (I’ve never heard anyone claim that it’s actually a success) but there are tens of thousands of apps available for WinMo and they’ll soon be available in a marketplace as well. Google wish they had as many applications for their platform.

3. You do know that there are already Android phones that don’t include any Google software don’t you? I think you’ll find that they are acting more like Motorola than MS when it comes to their OS.

4. What exactly can it do that WinMo can’t do? I’ve yet to see any mobile OS that’s capable of doing more than WinMo. The WinMo interface may be a bit tired now but that should all change by the end of the year when WinMo 7 comes out and it doesn’t prevent you from doing anything.

If so, the good news is that vendors are free to innovate on top of Android without giving it away to their competition. The bad news is that, as you say, it means the fragmentation of the Android platform has begun.

In addition to different interfaces a la TouchFlo you also have totally different builds with totally different applications. For instance, Samsung are working on their own custom build of the OS which they will be responsible for updating. This is potentially worse than the situation with WinMo because you’ll end up with forks in the base OS code.

It’s also ironic that Android is following this path just as WinMo is (finally) going in the other direction and embracing the idea of OTA updates direct from MS. I suspect that Android will soon find itself as just another generic mobile phone OS that nobody cares about and will never have actually taken off.

Back in the day WinCE was revolutionary, and technically speaking blew every other device (Palm) away as regards graphical capability, video playback etc.

It is a bit sluggish and the basic interface is very dated. However, it is not ‘garbage’ and I look forward to wimo 7.

Oddly however, I find myself for the first time in 9 years without a wimo/winCE device! My iPhone and Viliv S5 are meeting my mobile needs for now.

1. open source/Linux

2. android marketplace
(WM never had an “app store” to keep things structured and organized to promote development…still technically doesn’t)

3. Google
(they’ve seen Microsoft’s past mistakes regarding mobile phones, and will absolutely not let it happen to one of their products)

4. Abilities and UI
(can do a lot more, but more importantly, has a UI that makes it easy for any newcomer to do so)

I applaud Google for supplying the base OS and allowing HTC and other 3rd parties to fill in the blanks. We should hope and expect that Android will be stronger with all the 3rd party attention similar to how Linux has grown through the years.