cluck to viewThe possible action volley of official announcement from Google and the Open Handset Alliance bring unspoiled news for people fed up of the carrier choke hold . Of course , it ’s gentle to spot who gets an Android gimmick first : T - Mobile and Sprint . And it ’s easy to understand why underdog like them would be the first two carriers to sign on to the initiative . But let ’s take care a little deeper , to see why the gPhone / Android program is off to a much good start than the iPhone , and why you probably wo n’t have to switch to a postman you do n’t want to get a earpiece you might really love .
There ’s a second reason for T - Mo and Sprint to be onboard : HTC . HTC has had a good run with both of those carriers , acquaint two of the cool late products alone on them : T - Mobile ’s Shadow and Sprint ’s signature . Verizon and AT&T have human relationship with HTC as well , but it ’s gentle to see how HTC would feel comfortable produce an Android product for the two smaller common carrier .
Qualcomm ’s high-pitched - storey involvement in OHA is actually very surprising , both because it is such a confining partner of Verizon , and because it is one of the biggest architects of the closed software - and - divine service environs that you see in US carriers . Brew is Qualcomm ’s baby , a closed Java equivalent weight that may be well-situated for developer to influence with but comes with strings attach .
Clearly , though , Qualcomm ’s participation signals something else , that it is sentence for even the master walled nurseryman to embrace the open discipline . At least , that ’s what I hope it means , because its presence means that a Verizon Android French telephone ca n’t be too far off . ( Verizon today state us that it “ share the finish of more opened fluid app growth , ” and that this competitive move on Google ’s part show that invention comes without the need for “ legislation nor regulation , ” so here ’s hoping . )
The head is , even if you ’re neither a Sprint or a T - Mobile client , you should be happy with today ’s announcement . Google suppose explicitly that the OHA is open to everyone , and that the absence of partners ( for example , AT&T and Verizon ) should not be taken as expulsion . But having Sprint and T - Mo ensures adequate development metre for both networks , GSM / HSDPA side and CDMA / EV - DO . T - Mobile promises to have their HSDPA ( 3 1000 ) web up by other next year , in clock time for any Android smartphone to take advantage .
When it matters , there will be HTC ( and perhaps Motorola , LG and Samsung ) headphone that work on the internet of all four carrier . It ’s a sped - up reading of the Treo or BlackBerry scenario : once a handset gain a certain level of popularity , even the mega carriers must give to their demanding customers . When the Treo or BlackBerry first amount out , there was no CDMA version so Sprint and Verizon customers begin the dig , and it took year of development , not just a quick port wine , to give them what they require . Thankfully that will not be the case with Android .
The iPhone is different : it was developed for GSM / EDGE only , and with an single pot with the largest US GSM postman . Although Apple has n’t confirmed the 5 - year exclusivity rumor , it could easy rest locked out of everyone else ’s hand , in cattiness of unprecedented demand .
speak of locked , while we can assume that the early Sprint Android handsets will be partial to their toter because of the want of SIM menu with CDMA phones , HTC tell us that it will sell unlocked Android phones directly to consumers , so that anyone with an AT&T declaration who want in can get in early .
There ’s also a difference between Google ’s and Apple ’s approaching . By creating an undefended chopine , Google is trying to make money not on software or computer hardware sale , but by creating Brobdingnagian horde of ad - susceptible earphone users . Google can be less selfish about design , and less worried about stumble on the road to paragon . Google honcho Eric Schmidt told us today that they would not be in the stage business of clamp down on autonomous development , and from the audio of it , would be encouraging carriers to take on a hired hand - off insurance policy toward third - political party development .
What Google is saying to postman is that customers are grown - ups . They can own a personal computer for geezerhood before it ’s chock - full of virus , malware and memory hogging crap they do n’t need . Why not give them access to a world ’s Charles Frederick Worth of software — and bring out them to the same acknowledge risks — with their phones ? iPhone owners should be felicitous that Google ’s move just adds atmospheric pressure on Apple to start the SDK faster . But the larger question we should necessitate is this : Why will Android deliver the goods where Symbian , Palm OS and Windows Mobile have failed ?
It is possible that Google ’s muscle , outspoken pledge of openness , power to institute much of the intimate PC experience to the Android earpiece , and vast think tank of collaborator who can avoid the mistakes of the smartphones that failed , the carriers that crush too heavily and lost their grip , and of that famous experiment in gadget lust and contractual debt instrument that is the iPhone . But then again , it could be no more than the fragmented world of Linux development , without much mainstream splash .
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