What Counts As Android?

[ Thanks to Amy
Bennett for this link. ]

“Android’s open source nature has been a large factor
of the mobile OS’s success. Although Google generally partners with
a single vendor to create a point product for each Android release
(Samsung’s Nexus S for the recent Gingerbread release or Motorola’s
Xoom for the upcoming Honeycomb release), the company eventually
release each Android version as open source for other manufacturers
to implement (and potentially modify) as they see fit, often with
input from various carriers that will sell the result handsets or
tablets.

“In itself, that process is little more than an extension of the
open source tradition. It has, however, led to some challenges for
Android as a platform (particularly when it comes to enterprise
adoption or approval from IT departments). Since each manufacturer
and carrier can modify or skin Android as they see fit, there can
be some significant differences from one device or carrier to
another. More importantly, this can impact when Android OS updates
are provided to customers since they must be vetted by
manufacturers for each device and then passed onto carriers for
over the air delivery.”

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