Comments on: Why Android is the New Windows Mobile http://blog.laptopmag.com/why-android-is-the-new-windows-mobile News and views on today's hottest laptops, cell phones, and other mobile devices. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:37:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Michael Houghton http://blog.laptopmag.com/why-android-is-the-new-windows-mobile/comment-page-1#comment-23928 Michael Houghton Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:58:19 +0000 http://blog.laptopmag.com/?p=21717#comment-23928 I think you are right, fundamentally, but I think 'differentiation' is fairer than 'fragmentation'. MotoBLUR and Sense may look different and have a different set of installed widgets, but they are fundamentally using Android's widget API, so they are actually compatible. The amount of differentiation at the OS level is really very likely to be restricted to hardware drivers, because there is no monetary benefit in forking and fragmenting Android. Each alliance member needs the others to feel the same way, so they can continue to offer a different presentation and application layer on top of fundamentally the same OS, and benefit from collective advances that keep it ahead of RIM and help it catch Apple. In the meantime, the android developer phone and the "with Google" phones provide a baseline that is 'purer' Android, which offsets the risk of any damage through differentiation. I think you are right, fundamentally, but I think ‘differentiation’ is fairer than ‘fragmentation’. MotoBLUR and Sense may look different and have a different set of installed widgets, but they are fundamentally using Android’s widget API, so they are actually compatible. The amount of differentiation at the OS level is really very likely to be restricted to hardware drivers, because there is no monetary benefit in forking and fragmenting Android.

Each alliance member needs the others to feel the same way, so they can continue to offer a different presentation and application layer on top of fundamentally the same OS, and benefit from collective advances that keep it ahead of RIM and help it catch Apple.

In the meantime, the android developer phone and the “with Google” phones provide a baseline that is ‘purer’ Android, which offsets the risk of any damage through differentiation.

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