Google's unhappy Android developers
For a long time, Google has led a largely blissful existence, fostering a widespread perception -- sometimes in direct contradiction to the facts -- that it can do no wrong. Yet the company's controversial Android mobile platform venture threatens to seriously dent this notion, at least with some of the people it needs most.
As it readies its long-anticipated open mobile OS for public release, Google is behaving in a way that threatens to permanently taint its relationship with many Android developers. The company's actions -- including restricting access to key development tools and allegedly treading on open source principles -- have created, if not a full-fledged revolt, at least a sense of disappointment and disillusionment among many in the tightly knit Android development community, which numbers perhaps 2,000, according to an estimate by AndroidGuys, an independent Android blog site. Some developers have threatened to shift their attention to other mobile platforms.
Mike Novak, a New York-based independent Android developer, says Google may be guilty of taking its developer base for granted. "Developers are the driving force behind Android applications, so without them it would be very hard for Android to have a stance in the market," he says.
Casey Borders, an independent Android developer in Columbus, Ohio, warns that Google will have to work hard to retain developer loyalty and attract new developers to its platform. "The Android platform has a very strong base and a lot of potential, but it also has a lot of competition," he warns.
The Android SDK controversy
At the heart of the developers' discontent is the status of the Android Software Developers Kit (SDK). In July, Google announced that the latest SDK would be released first to the 50 winners of its Android Developer Challenge (ADC), a US$10 million contest that the company is using to find the best and most innovative Android applications -- "cool apps that surprise and delight mobile users," as Google says on its ADC Web page.
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No matter how the mess is
No matter how the mess is going on, Google and its partners need to show the developer community that mobile phones based on Android platform are going to sell. We, as independent application developer, are interested in making money for all our effort spent on the platform. I am curious if there are any mobile phone vendors who will be seriously selling Android based mobile phone in the near future. Can Android survive the reality check?I do not think apple's
I do not think apple's Android phone will be very popular with the current popularity of Apple's misguided 3G. It will probably be the cellular version of linux. Which is not what the cellphone industry needs. We need to start increasing emphasis on the phones by removing archaic interfaces, and take power away from the networks.The 3G is encrypted and doesn't do anything that is particularly revolutionary. Google needs to release the sdk so that they can have as many apps as possible. If they don't then the future of phones could be very bleak.
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