Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
theregister.co.uk
Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
1–10 of 12 posts
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#2Given the alternative is having several different shoddy (manufacturer specific) UIs it seems like Google is making the right choice.
After all, the iPhone UI is pretty fantastic and Google really needs to achieve some sort of parity on this front.
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#3The article cites TechCruch as the source several times, but doesn’t seem to include any links.
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#4The article cites TechCruch as the source several times, but doesn’t seem to include any links.
They're probably referring to this article:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/16/android-team-laser-focused-...
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#5It seems to me that the "risk" is overblown.
The biggest "issue" that I've read about is scaling the screen for different resolutions, this could be solved by an update with an intelligent scaling algorithm.
It seems to me what Google is trying to do is improve the native applets so that OEMs are less likely to want to create their own.
Also, nothing says that Google is banning these vendor additions, just discourage them.
Remember Android is an open platform.
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#6Blatant misinformation. At the beginning of this article, they suggest Google is going to impose a single UI, as though Sense and Motoblur would no longer be allowed. By the end, they acknowledge that they're only hoping to make the default UI so good that it discourages other manufacturers from rolling their own, which we already knew. Terribly, if not manipulatively written.
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#7It seems to me that the "risk" is overblown. The biggest "issue" that I've read about is scaling the screen for different resolutions, this could be solved by an update with an intelligent scaling algorithm. It seems to me what Google is trying to do is improve the native applets so that OEMs are less likely to want to create their own. Also, nothing says that Google is banning these vendor additions, just discourage…
Yes, but doesn't google limit google apps to approved devices? If google wanted to they could probably use these to force OEMs to use the default UI or loose the right to distribute google apps. Of course, the article doesn't say that, so google probably isn't even doing that.
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#8I wonder if it's even possible to address this through improving the default UI. That seems to make the assumption that Motorola/HTC/etc use their UIs to address deficiencies in the base product ("Android UI inferiority complex"?), when really they're mostly there to differentiate their products. Who wants to be a clone maker?
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#9It seems to me that the "risk" is overblown. The biggest "issue" that I've read about is scaling the screen for different resolutions, this could be solved by an update with an intelligent scaling algorithm. It seems to me what Google is trying to do is improve the native applets so that OEMs are less likely to want to create their own. Also, nothing says that Google is banning these vendor additions, just discourage…
>>>Remember Android is an open platform.
That might be so, but the Google bits of it aren't. And if Google says its UI must be used in order to get the Google bits, that's where the conflict will begin. Owners of the Archos 5 Internet Tablet are well aware of what Android minus Google is like.
Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#10I wonder if it's even possible to address this through improving the default UI. That seems to make the assumption that Motorola/HTC/etc use their UIs to address deficiencies in the base product ("Android UI inferiority complex"?), when really they're mostly there to differentiate their products. Who wants to be a clone maker?
>>>Who wants to be a clone maker?
Given the success of Windows, I'd say many wouldn't mind being one as long as the money flowed in, as it did with Windows.
A certain base UI is needed so that the user experience is mostly consistent across hardware. When you get to tablets, there's no need for the four buttons required by a handset -- yet there's nothing in the current software that does that.
Google would be wise to let vendors differentiate with the main home screen as a sop to HTC and Motorola's customizations. It's the main home screen that makes people notice a handset from a distance on a store shelf.