Google justifies fragmentation, defends Android

Head of Google's Android project Andy Rubin has refuted all the accusations made against Android on his blog, saying misinformation in the press is fast spreading against the software without an in-depth understanding of its unique features.

Recently, there's been a lot of misinformation in the press about Android and Google's role in supporting the ecosystem. I'm writing in the spirit of transparency and in an attempt to set the record straight, he wrote on his blog, in view of recent reports which said Google was not open in terms of its over-emphasis on who is allowed to access the source code. Here, Rubin said, There are not, and never have been, any efforts to standardize the platform on any single chipset architecture.

The recent move to enforce control on who is allowed to access the source code was made for the good of the end users, he pointed out.

Responding to complaints that some Android based phones are not compatible with all applications, thus, leading to customer dissatisfaction and even given in indirectly to Apple's supremacy in the field, he said: If someone wishes to market a device as Android-compatible or include Google applications on the device, we do require the device to conform to some basic compatibility requirements. (After all, it would not be realistic to expect Google applications - or any applications for that matter - to operate flawlessly across incompatible devices). Our 'anti-fragmentation' program has been in place since Android 1.0 and remains a priority for us to provide a great user experience for consumers and a consistent platform for developers. In fact, all of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance agreed not to fragment Android when we first announced it in 2007. Our approach remains unchanged: there are no lock-downs or restrictions against customizing UIs.

Google uncovered its new Android version Honeycomb with Motorola Xoom. They had coded their partner as Ice Cream Sandwich for their next Android operation but it was not confirmed. Google had earlier mentioned that they would be partnering with hardware developers to come up with an improved Android version and Xoom was a result of it.

Honeycomb has not yet been made avaialable as open-source software. Google said that the delay has nothing to do with the current strategy of open sourcing but it is just not yet ready to open-source it. Rubin defends it saying this temporary delay does not represent a change in strategy. We remain firmly committed to providing Android as an open source platform across many device types.