What Amazon Taught Mobile Phone Outfits
April 7, 2012
The Technology Review article “Android Device Makers Are Mutinying, Says Insider” struck me as a trifle sensational. I have been getting more comfortable with Googlized headlines in the New York Times, but Technology Review. The story’s main point, in my opinion, was old news to us here in rural Kentucky. We wrote an analysis of the impact of the Amazon use of Android in the Kindle Fire in November 2011. The revelation that Android device makers were getting frisky was a foregone conclusion after Amazon took an older version of Android which was open source and did its Amazon thing. We thought the creation of an Amazon Kindle app store would clue in the savvy observers that Google was being out maneuvered.
Here’s the passage we noted in the Technology Review write up:
Morgan [top dog] says his company [Skyhook Wireless] is going to be part of a “major” new phone device that will be released at the end of this year. It will be based on Android, but not controlled by Google. “They [Google] really do restrict anything a device maker can do to stand out, for their own purposes,” says Morgan. “It’s very unappealing to a device maker. They don’t want to be just a commodity hardware maker because they’ll all lose out to cheaper players in China. Everyone’s emboldened by the success of Amazon. Everyone’s saying ‘we need to go our own way.'” Paradoxically, this trend is positive for Android, just not Google’s control over it.
I am okay with Amazon’s approach. Skyhook is fine too. But the real action will be the manufacturers of mobile gizmos in the Middle Kingdom and neighboring countries. An open source operating system emulating the Amazon approach means opportunity without royalties. Will your Android app run on one of these quasi-Android devices? I think the flower pot of Android will spout many different blooms.
Stephen E Arnold, April 7, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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