It does seem like the carrier UIs are holding Android back. I've heard them cited as part of the reason some phones are so slow to receive updates. If this is correct, it seems like Android could afford to be more innovative and release more updates without them.
Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
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Re: Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan
#12Blatant 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.
they're only hoping to make the default UI so good that it discourages other manufacturers from rolling their own
This sounds a lot like the rational for the Nexus One. Google will a set a standard so high it will become the baseline for everyone else, minimizing fragmentation (if not eliminating it).
It didn't work then and I'm not sure why they think this is going to work now. Handset makers do not want to become "box makers" for Google, period. If that means splintering Android into a million pieces, so be it.
Google has painted themselves into a corner. The most touted benefit of Android (that it's "open") is proving to be its biggest drawback. But now the question is how do they can maintain control of their platform without mimicking Apple?