MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Google allegedly told Acer to drop a rival phone, or lose Android partnership

fjtorres · 09-15-2012, 07:52 AM

Interesting little brewhaha, actually.
1- Android is (conceptually) Mutant-Java (Dalvik runtime) on Linux funneling service income (from Play, Maps, search, etc) to Google.
2- Alibaba created an OS that tried to clone Google's Dalvik and run that on Linux to funnel service income to *their* services. It is not 100% Android compatible.
3- Anybody can fork actual Android to their heart's content (like Amazon does) as long as they're not a member of the Open Handset Alliance.
4- Members of the Open Handset Alliance signed a contract specifying they would not shipped forked Android products that introduced incompatibilities.
5- Acer signed the OHA contract (which they can void at any time) and received access to the proprietary Android apps that add Google ecosystem services (and consumer value) as well as Google developer support for free as long as they are members in good standing of OHA.
6- OHA members can (and do) ship product with non-Google OSes (WP7, Win8, etc) and Google doesn't complain. Those OSes, however, don't try to run Android apps.
7- Google told Acer they considered Alibaba's OS an android derivative and that shipping product with it would be in violation of the OHA contract.
8- Acer weighed the value of OHA membership versus the expected gains from partnering with Alibaba and stopped the intro. Maybe temporarily, just to study their legal options, maybe permanently.

What I find interesting here is that Dalvik itself has a disputed heritage (the Oracle Java lawsuit) and that google is in effect saying that anything with a Dalvik-like runtime is an android derivative or fork and thus forbidden to OHA members. Given that OHA includes Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Acer, and pretty much all the Android Phone vendors that pretty much forecloses the market to any android clone phones and ensures that the service revenue from those phones goes to Google.

That makes OHA a multivendor walled-garden much like Apple's.
It also means Alibaba is going to have to sell its own phones.
Take the Acer name off them, brand them Alibaba, and case closed.

Just another small gotcha for the manufacturers using the "free" phone OS.
These gotchas are piling up, though...

Interesting indeed.
This story's not done. I'm thinking this one's going to court.

09-15-2012, 07:52 AM	#6
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Interesting little brewhaha, actually. 1- Android is (conceptually) Mutant-Java (Dalvik runtime) on Linux funneling service income (from Play, Maps, search, etc) to Google. 2- Alibaba created an OS that tried to clone Google's Dalvik and run that on Linux to funnel service income to their services. It is not 100% Android compatible. 3- Anybody can fork actual Android to their heart's content (like Amazon does) as long as they're not a member of the Open Handset Alliance. 4- Members of the Open Handset Alliance signed a contract specifying they would not shipped forked Android products that introduced incompatibilities. 5- Acer signed the OHA contract (which they can void at any time) and received access to the proprietary Android apps that add Google ecosystem services (and consumer value) as well as Google developer support for free as long as they are members in good standing of OHA. 6- OHA members can (and do) ship product with non-Google OSes (WP7, Win8, etc) and Google doesn't complain. Those OSes, however, don't try to run Android apps. 7- Google told Acer they considered Alibaba's OS an android derivative and that shipping product with it would be in violation of the OHA contract. 8- Acer weighed the value of OHA membership versus the expected gains from partnering with Alibaba and stopped the intro. Maybe temporarily, just to study their legal options, maybe permanently. What I find interesting here is that Dalvik itself has a disputed heritage (the Oracle Java lawsuit) and that google is in effect saying that anything with a Dalvik-like runtime is an android derivative or fork and thus forbidden to OHA members. Given that OHA includes Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Acer, and pretty much all the Android Phone vendors that pretty much forecloses the market to any android clone phones and ensures that the service revenue from those phones goes to Google. That makes OHA a multivendor walled-garden much like Apple's. It also means Alibaba is going to have to sell its own phones. Take the Acer name off them, brand them Alibaba, and case closed. Just another small gotcha for the manufacturers using the "free" phone OS. These gotchas are piling up, though... Interesting indeed. This story's not done. I'm thinking this one's going to court. Last edited by fjtorres; 09-15-2012 at 07:55 AM.