Google has given Microsoft a great competitive opening, and it's one the software giant shouldn't let go. Opportunities like this just don't come `round often enough, or so rightly timed.
Twice in about a week, Google has cracked down on Android licensing. From one perspective, the search and information giant is asserting needed leadership. From another, Google is closing the door on so-called openness of its software. Either way, Microsoft has a hook to grab developers and encourage further OEM adoption of Windows Phone 7.
Quick recap: Last week, Google revealed that it wouldn't immediately release Android 3.0 as open source; there was no real time horizon given. My analysis "Honeycomb tests Google's 'Open Principles'" questions whether the search and information giant broke promises made to the open-source community. From the standpoint of controlling fragmentation, withholding Honeycomb makes business sense, however.
Something else: According to a report from Bloomberg Business Week, Google also is cracking down on which handset manufacturers get access to Android. They'll need Android chief Andy Rubin's blessing to get the newest operating system version, according to the report. For a mobile operating system that's supposed to be open, Android suddenly looks closed. Again, there is business justification -- Google trying to diminish Android fragmentation. However, handset manufacturers like HTC or Sony may find Google suddenly resistent to skinning Android with their own custom user interfaces. They use these skins to differentiate the experience between their phones from others running Android; perhaps no longer.
Google is between a rock and a hard place, and Microsoft should put on the squeeze.
Read More
http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Microsoft-should-make-Google-the-April-Fool/1301690774
Twice in about a week, Google has cracked down on Android licensing. From one perspective, the search and information giant is asserting needed leadership. From another, Google is closing the door on so-called openness of its software. Either way, Microsoft has a hook to grab developers and encourage further OEM adoption of Windows Phone 7.
Quick recap: Last week, Google revealed that it wouldn't immediately release Android 3.0 as open source; there was no real time horizon given. My analysis "Honeycomb tests Google's 'Open Principles'" questions whether the search and information giant broke promises made to the open-source community. From the standpoint of controlling fragmentation, withholding Honeycomb makes business sense, however.
Something else: According to a report from Bloomberg Business Week, Google also is cracking down on which handset manufacturers get access to Android. They'll need Android chief Andy Rubin's blessing to get the newest operating system version, according to the report. For a mobile operating system that's supposed to be open, Android suddenly looks closed. Again, there is business justification -- Google trying to diminish Android fragmentation. However, handset manufacturers like HTC or Sony may find Google suddenly resistent to skinning Android with their own custom user interfaces. They use these skins to differentiate the experience between their phones from others running Android; perhaps no longer.
Google is between a rock and a hard place, and Microsoft should put on the squeeze.
Read More
http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Microsoft-should-make-Google-the-April-Fool/1301690774
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