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Google needs to do one thing before anything else: Build a reference phone chipset. Every Android phone consists of a patchwork of vendor specific hardware.
by beloch 15y ago
Google needs to do one thing before anything else:
Build a reference phone chipset.
Every Android phone consists of a patchwork of vendor specific hardware. The chips in Samsung's phones are not the same as the chips in HTC's or LG's, etc.. It gets even worse, since the same model of phone made by the same manufacturer may have different chips for different cell carriers. This is a big reason why the second most recent "reference" google phone, the Nexus S, has yet to receive an official ICS update more than 3 months after ICS was released. If google is this slow, how can anyone expect other vendors to be quick? Hell, it's starting to look like other vendors may be faster than google. That's also not good.
- wmf 15y agoGoogle does have reference designs; if you use the same chips as the latest Nexus then you don't have to do any porting to get the latest Android release. This was especially apparent with Honeycomb where all the tablets used Tegra 2 (despite its tablet-unfriendly low fill rate). But unlike Microsoft's "chassis" concept, Google won't force anyone. It is open source after all. Also, Google likes to rotate their favor among all the chip and phone vendors, using a different vendor for each generation. Phone makers who are loyal to one SoC line find themselves advantaged with one release but disadvantaged with the next. As much as Android would benefit from Microsoft/Apple-style tighter control, Google seems philosophically opposed to it.
- huggyface 15y agoBuild a reference phone chipset. That is the antithesis of the Android spirit. In fact, they made this mistake with Honeycomb and the Tegra 2, and it was a general disaster. Android is all about variation and competition at every level.