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"According to the report, Nokia plans to fork Android to fit its purposes, similar to the approach used by Amazon." No, please no !!! We have the Amazon fork;

"According to the report, Nokia plans to fork Android to fit its purposes, similar to the approach used by Amazon." No, please no !!! We have the Amazon fork; various Chinese forks; and now a Nokia fork ?!? I think this damages the Android brand. The way Google has been consolidating functionality into Play Service is a direct move against this kind of thing, whatever they say about open source being good. Whats the point of this? Samsung is making most of the profits from Android. They dominate the high end Android phones with LG in second if I recall. On the low end, there is a slew of junk but some interesting and very capable devices like the Moto G (as far as I can tell, it could only use a better camera and build quality). Are they attempting to compete with the Moto G and future Google/Moto devices targeted at this space, presumably as Google lets other OEMs have the high end, using their own fork and ecosystem? Maybe they should do Plan B with Ubuntu Touch and/or Firefox OS

kumarm 13y ago
[I think this damages the Android brand.] Wouldn't that be a goal for Nokia Handset Division as part of MSFT? Thats just a trick from old MSFT except with their monopoly.
wmf 13y ago
I don't think Amazon is particularly damaging the Android brand because they don't mention Android anywhere.
- DannyBee 13y ago
  Sure they do "All Kindle Fire tablets are powered by the latest version of Fire OS—Fire OS 3.0 "Mojito", which starts with Android ..." http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CU0NSCU/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CU0NSCU/
pjmlp 13y ago
It is always back to the same OEM game, differentiation.
camus2 13y ago
Nokia is not part of the Open Handset Alliance ( or whatever is the exact name). So they can fork Android all they want , why not?
- salient 13y ago
  No access to the Play Store, which makes the whole thing pointless. It really is like starting from scratch.
  - dirtyaura 13y ago
    Android ecosystem is more complicated. In China, the largest market of the next 10 years, Play store is irrelevant. Chinese market has several Android app stores (Anzhi, Xiaomi, Wandoujia etc), and together they have hundreds of millions of users. It's likely that there will be different app stores in other growing Asian markets with business models more suitable to their countries.
  - JacobSkyler 13y ago
    Not really. All it means is that Nokia has to convince Android developers to upload their apps to the Nokia store too.
  - hershel 13y ago
    it's pretty easy to do a deal with Amazon and install it's application store.
  - fulafel 13y ago
    Lots of Android users who bought Play-licensed Android devices make do without access to Play Store, as you can only get access if you link your Google account to your Android device. There are other free to use app stores and most FOSS apps have apk downloads available.
ENGNR 13y ago
It's better than having them start a whole new operating system. At least this way the apps will still be largely compatible (except for vendor services). Many developers will be able to just load the same .apk into both (or more) app stores. And everyone will be contributing core OS improvements to the same pool, it's the open source dream.
bad_user 13y ago
> I think this damages the Android brand. In my opinion, it strengthens it. This is precisely why I love Android and not iOS or Windows Phone. Android being open-source, means forks are possible. It also means that if Google's stewardship goes awfully awry, then a community or some company can take over their leadership, so Google has to play a lot nicer than other companies, as the lock-in they achieved is weaker. Amazon forking Android is a great thing. People don't view Amazon's devices as being Androids (except us). It also enabled them to deliver cool devices for cheap in a small amount of time. If it weren't for Android, Amazon would've had to come up with their own proprietary OS, completely incompatible with everything else. Who wouldn't prefer a forked Android, rather than yet another half-baked proprietary OS? Amazon forking Android is THE proof that Android is an open platform, because that's what openness allows one to do. And the way that Google has been consolidating functionality into Play Services makes me question their stewardship of the platform. Android has been advertised and sold as an open platform. In my country, I remember commercials for Android phones mentioning the word "open-source". My freakin taxi driver asked me about it. Android has been sold to everybody as being an open platform, from day 1. Openness is a doubly-edged sword, but on the whole I think it's worth it. If you don't like it, then you can take your pick from the competition. > Samsung is making most of the profits from Android So what's the problem? They make most of the profits because (a) they are big and have a big distribution network and (b) they have been making the best Androids. For both customers and developers, it's actually irrelevant whom gets the most profits. People used to say that Apple makes more profits than the whole Android industry combined, therefore Android is not relevant. But it doesn't matter, because (a) the pie is freakishly big and growing and you don't have to be number one and (b) things change fast, especially because phones have a short life, much shorter than PCs. > Maybe they should do Plan B with Ubuntu Touch and/or Firefox OS Judging by Nokia's past history, they have a tendency to make their own thing. Therefore, if they used Ubuntu Touch or Firefox OS, they would fork those too. I'm rooting for Firefox OS, therefore I don't wish for Nokia's hands on it.
tkorri 13y ago
> I think this damages the Android brand. I think Google and others are doing a pretty good job on this without Nokia's help. With all the different versions of Android, different hardware specs and the lack of updates to current phones, it's PITA to create an app which works reasonably well on most of the devices. And because of that, Android starting to look more and more as the new Symbian.
MichaelMoser123 13y ago
its a trend, many vendors try to differentiate; Sony has its extensions too: Timescape is a 3D interface for SMS messages, very intuitive; but you can't have it on any other Android phone. Here is a demo for Timescape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD2PECP2AaQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD2PECP2AaQ Apparently it is addicting; my wife got upset about it, now that I got her another phone she is missing this feature.
easytiger 13y ago
Embrace, extend, extinguish.
rayiner 13y ago
There is no "Android Brand." To consumers who aren't in the know, there is just Samsung's UI, LG's, etc.
fulafel 13y ago
The Play stuff is closed and you requires you to pay big bucks to Google. It's a direct incentive to make forks. In fact a lot of the Chinese devices ship with something closely resembling the open-source parts of Android, shipping with apps cobbled from here and there (to make up for the lack of Play access).
r00fus 13y ago
> No, please no !!! We have the Amazon fork; various Chinese forks; and now a Nokia fork ?!? Excuse me, what do you think would happen when Android was released as open source? Forking is essential to the health of open source code. The interesting part is when features from FireOS and this supposed Nokia OS are lifted and put back into Android. Yes, Play Service is definitely Google's attempt to keep up with Apple while at the same time not closing up the Android source. We'll see how well that pans out. Perhaps "Android" as a marketing hype term will die, just like "RSS" - in the sense that it dies like Obiwan Kanobi and just moves into a higher plane of existence.

kumarm 13y ago

[I think this damages the Android brand.] Wouldn't that be a goal for Nokia Handset Division as part of MSFT? Thats just a trick from old MSFT except with their monopoly.

wmf 13y ago

I don't think Amazon is particularly damaging the Android brand because they don't mention Android anywhere.

DannyBee 13y ago
Sure they do "All Kindle Fire tablets are powered by the latest version of Fire OS—Fire OS 3.0 "Mojito", which starts with Android ..." http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CU0NSCU/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CU0NSCU/

pjmlp 13y ago

It is always back to the same OEM game, differentiation.

camus2 13y ago

Nokia is not part of the Open Handset Alliance ( or whatever is the exact name). So they can fork Android all they want , why not?

salient 13y ago
No access to the Play Store, which makes the whole thing pointless. It really is like starting from scratch.
- dirtyaura 13y ago
  Android ecosystem is more complicated. In China, the largest market of the next 10 years, Play store is irrelevant. Chinese market has several Android app stores (Anzhi, Xiaomi, Wandoujia etc), and together they have hundreds of millions of users. It's likely that there will be different app stores in other growing Asian markets with business models more suitable to their countries.
- JacobSkyler 13y ago
  Not really. All it means is that Nokia has to convince Android developers to upload their apps to the Nokia store too.
- hershel 13y ago
  it's pretty easy to do a deal with Amazon and install it's application store.
- fulafel 13y ago
  Lots of Android users who bought Play-licensed Android devices make do without access to Play Store, as you can only get access if you link your Google account to your Android device. There are other free to use app stores and most FOSS apps have apk downloads available.

ENGNR 13y ago

It's better than having them start a whole new operating system. At least this way the apps will still be largely compatible (except for vendor services). Many developers will be able to just load the same .apk into both (or more) app stores. And everyone will be contributing core OS improvements to the same pool, it's the open source dream.

bad_user 13y ago

> I think this damages the Android brand. In my opinion, it strengthens it. This is precisely why I love Android and not iOS or Windows Phone. Android being open-source, means forks are possible. It also means that if Google's stewardship goes awfully awry, then a community or some company can take over their leadership, so Google has to play a lot nicer than other companies, as the lock-in they achieved is weaker. Amazon forking Android is a great thing. People don't view Amazon's devices as being Androids (except us). It also enabled them to deliver cool devices for cheap in a small amount of time. If it weren't for Android, Amazon would've had to come up with their own proprietary OS, completely incompatible with everything else. Who wouldn't prefer a forked Android, rather than yet another half-baked proprietary OS? Amazon forking Android is THE proof that Android is an open platform, because that's what openness allows one to do. And the way that Google has been consolidating functionality into Play Services makes me question their stewardship of the platform. Android has been advertised and sold as an open platform. In my country, I remember commercials for Android phones mentioning the word "open-source". My freakin taxi driver asked me about it. Android has been sold to everybody as being an open platform, from day 1. Openness is a doubly-edged sword, but on the whole I think it's worth it. If you don't like it, then you can take your pick from the competition. > Samsung is making most of the profits from Android So what's the problem? They make most of the profits because (a) they are big and have a big distribution network and (b) they have been making the best Androids. For both customers and developers, it's actually irrelevant whom gets the most profits. People used to say that Apple makes more profits than the whole Android industry combined, therefore Android is not relevant. But it doesn't matter, because (a) the pie is freakishly big and growing and you don't have to be number one and (b) things change fast, especially because phones have a short life, much shorter than PCs. > Maybe they should do Plan B with Ubuntu Touch and/or Firefox OS Judging by Nokia's past history, they have a tendency to make their own thing. Therefore, if they used Ubuntu Touch or Firefox OS, they would fork those too. I'm rooting for Firefox OS, therefore I don't wish for Nokia's hands on it.

tkorri 13y ago

> I think this damages the Android brand. I think Google and others are doing a pretty good job on this without Nokia's help. With all the different versions of Android, different hardware specs and the lack of updates to current phones, it's PITA to create an app which works reasonably well on most of the devices. And because of that, Android starting to look more and more as the new Symbian.

MichaelMoser123 13y ago

its a trend, many vendors try to differentiate; Sony has its extensions too: Timescape is a 3D interface for SMS messages, very intuitive; but you can't have it on any other Android phone. Here is a demo for Timescape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD2PECP2AaQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD2PECP2AaQ Apparently it is addicting; my wife got upset about it, now that I got her another phone she is missing this feature.

easytiger 13y ago

Embrace, extend, extinguish.

rayiner 13y ago

There is no "Android Brand." To consumers who aren't in the know, there is just Samsung's UI, LG's, etc.

fulafel 13y ago

The Play stuff is closed and you requires you to pay big bucks to Google. It's a direct incentive to make forks. In fact a lot of the Chinese devices ship with something closely resembling the open-source parts of Android, shipping with apps cobbled from here and there (to make up for the lack of Play access).

r00fus 13y ago

> No, please no !!! We have the Amazon fork; various Chinese forks; and now a Nokia fork ?!? Excuse me, what do you think would happen when Android was released as open source? Forking is essential to the health of open source code. The interesting part is when features from FireOS and this supposed Nokia OS are lifted and put back into Android. Yes, Play Service is definitely Google's attempt to keep up with Apple while at the same time not closing up the Android source. We'll see how well that pans out. Perhaps "Android" as a marketing hype term will die, just like "RSS" - in the sense that it dies like Obiwan Kanobi and just moves into a higher plane of existence.