Android (un?)officially splitting.

thehomeofDob

So it seems like Google will officially be splitting Android when they release Gingerbread. They're requirements (or recommendations as some sites have clarified) are high and the fact that it will restrict 3rd party launchers and overlays means HTC, Samsung et al will not be able to use sense, touchwiz and what have you.
Google are planning on leaving 2.x for low end devices and 3.x for high end devices.

So what do we think about this? Will it be good for Android as a whole or a detriment to it's development? Do you think they'll push the 2.x firmware into 2.3, 2.4 and so on and develop 3.x seperately?

Personally I think android is moving more quickly than many manufacturers can keep up, but I don't think fragmenting like this will solve any problems. I much prefer a unified OS where all devices run the same software.

On the other hand, many Android phones are out of reach of the mass market, they're priced too high on PaYG plans to be afordable. It could mean that people can still get the joys of Android with 2.x on a cheaper phone and those who want the best of the best will get something with 3.x

What's everyones take on it?

jesus_thats_gre

Was it not revealed recently that Gingerbread is only 2.3 or something like that?

thehomeofDob

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Was it not revealed recently that Gingerbread is only 2.3 or something like that?

Not sure, I haven't seen anything like that, but could quite possibly be wrong.:o

[edit]Looks like you might be right, however, release names aside there still does seem to be a split.


Taken from here

Update: I posted an update to this post, where I address Dan Morrill’s tweet, and do some corrections/clarifications regarding the upcoming Android update number issues, “minimum” specs – thay are actually only “recommended”, and the the split between high end Android 3 – low end Android 2.2 devices – it’s not an official Google policy, but it is happening nonetheless.

After a quick re-read of the article. Could a Mod rename this to Android (un)officially splitting.

Thanks

hobochris

I see this as a bad thing.

I think they should continue to follow the computer style model where once you meet the minimum spec it'll run, but implement extra features for higher end phones.

Oafley Jones

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Was it not revealed recently that Gingerbread is only 2.3 or something like that?

Gingerbread is a major update hence it will be 3.0, with Honeycomb following as 3.1. Personally, given the option between the Desire Z and the G2, i'd take the g2 owing to my preference for stock android. I'd also expect a fairly radical update to the look and polish of Android given the hiring of Palm's Duarte, lessening the need for Samsung, HTC etc. to add their own unique layers.

Atomic Pineapple

I think its a good idea.

Android is already fragmented, its all over the place, you have devices running anything between 1.5, 1.6, 2.1update-1 and 2.2.

As a developer thats a pain as it it is.

But add on top of that the fact that HTC, Samsung, Sony etc.. have all tweaked bits of Android here and there to suit their own devices mean you again have sligthly different versions of Android.

Their not supposed to break the public API's of Android but they do, making it a pain to develop for a wide range of devices.

A solid standard Android is what we need and splitting it at the minute so we have two very clearly defined levels is good thinking in my opinion.

But thats from a developers point of view.

thehomeofDob

draffodx wrote: »

I think its a good idea.

Android is already fragmented, its all over the place, you have devices running anything between 1.5, 1.6, 2.1update-1 and 2.2.

As a developer thats a pain as it it is.

But add on top of that the fact that HTC, Samsung, Sony etc.. have all tweaked bits of Android here and there to suit their own devices mean you again have sligthly different versions of Android.

Their not supposed to break the public API's of Android but they do, making it a pain to develop for a wide range of devices.

A solid standard Android is what we need and splitting it at the minute so we have two very clearly defined levels is good thinking in my opinion.

But thats from a developers point of view.

Thanks for the title edit.

I agree that android is quite fragmented as it is. Most manufacturers, though mainly nokia, have always had a standard OS and a Smartphone OS to diferentiate between - but those divides we very clearly marked. You knew if you bought a feature phone there wasn't much else you could do that wasn't advertised, and if you bought a smartphone there was more posiblities.

What I see happening is that there will be a divide in features and apps that are supported - but will there be a clear definition of what can do what? I wouldn't want to buy a similarly speced phone to a mate of mine, to discover I can't do half the things with mine because the manufacturer decided to go with an older version of the OS and that there was no possibility of a stock upgrade.

evolutionqy7

while i think unified system is an advantage in one way or another i find that if they do that its just gonna get boring. That was kinda the whole beauty of the os that you could do alot of things with it.

_Kaiser_

The big problem as I see it is the cost of the phones and the (ridiculously) short life-cycle, coupled with the (ridiculously) long contract tie-ins.

Think about it... most people who will buy (particularly a high end) Android phone are tech enthusiasts. These people always want the latest and greatest (I know I do! )

Yet the current Desire was only released in March/April and is ALREADY being replaced with not one, but TWO new versions (the HD and Z).

At €600-ish, that's a big ask for someone who only bought the last one a few months ago. Got it on contract? Well then you're even worse off, as the networks are tying Smartphones to 12/18 month contracts - in fact the HD is being sold with a 24!! month contract in the UK from what I saw in other thread.

I'd love a HD but I'm tied into the contract for another year, and I'm not paying that sort of money to buy a sim-free one (can't afford it at the minute anyway!), only to see it replaced by what.. march/april again?

So that means you're left with either those with more money than sense, or new users and most new ordinary users will balk at the high contract prices/long terms - unless they're an enthusiast in which case we're back where we started!

Bluefoam

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Think about it... most people who will buy (particularly a high end) Android phone are tech enthusiasts. These people always want the latest and greatest (I know I do! )

Yet the current Desire was only released in March/April and is ALREADY being replaced with not one, but TWO new versions (the HD and Z).

At €600-ish, that's a big ask for someone who only bought the last one a few months ago. Got it on contract? Well then you're even worse off, as the networks are tying Smartphones to 12/18 month contracts - in fact the HD is being sold with a 24!! month contract in the UK from what I saw in other thread.

I'd love a HD but I'm tied into the contract for another year, and I'm not paying that sort of money to buy a sim-free one (can't afford it at the minute anyway!), only to see it replaced by what.. march/april again?

So that means you're left with either those with more money than sense, or new users and most new ordinary users will balk at the high contract prices/long terms - unless they're an enthusiast in which case we're back where we started!

No one is forcing you to buy a new phone. Just wait till the next gen of phones are available. I'm still using a Hero - which by the comments on this site - is obsolete. Its still a good phone, I have no problems with it, but I'll be ready to upgrade it soon enough. I didn't feel the need to rush out and by a Nexus 1 or Desire 6 months after getting my Hero, because they were only slightly better than what I had...

If your Desire doesn't meet your needs, you should have considered that when you signed up for a 12 month contract

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

The big problem as I see it is the cost of the phones and the (ridiculously) short life-cycle, coupled with the (ridiculously) long contract tie-ins.

The life cycle of a product does not end when a new product is release. Your Desire will still work!!!

evolutionqy7

The new desire is nothing much of an upgrade. Would rather call the HD/Z different series of Desires. Each has a few features suited for mulitmedia or comfortable writing.

flugel

Pros: Everyone (pending your phones specifications can handle it) will have immediate access to the latest upgrades

Cons: With so many phones already running android and with only more to come its nice to have different options to choose from like Sense rather than basing purchase purely on specifications.

Solution: Phones like HTC / Sony can be used with either their own take on android, or stock, let the buyer decide which one they want to use, easy! :P

evolutionqy7

flugel wrote: »

Pros: Everyone (pending your phones specifications can handle it) will have immediate access to the latest upgrades

wrong. different.hardware will never allow it. different company phase to provide updates is also a factor. while it might speed it up it will never be like iPhone updates because of different hardware

subway

sooner or later they need to cut back to yearly updates.
they will kill themselves off if they keep branching.

the basic technology should work out of the box with all the bells and whistles available.
customisation should be via custom rom, apps or themes.

having no roadmap is fine when its your own hardware (cloud servces like gmail, google, etc) but if the end user has to keep upgrading the hardware people will lose interest.

imagine if you needed to upgrade your laptop everytime there was a windows update.
its unsustainable.

for example what is there that the desire cant do that anyone would want it to do?