Google Android Not Quite So Open

They gave up living the whole "don't be evil" mantra long ago.

Does anyone seriously expect them not to act the same way any other business would?

If Android continues to allow manually installed unsigned apps going forward, great, but no one should be surprised if it gets locked down after an encounter with the Marketplace, or an update, or...

-- B

P.S. I'm not addressing TMobile, as I know no one's surprised about that part of it.

basicly its welcome to Google being a software vendor to a locked down centric industry.

With the OS being open source, if they disabled the ability for unsigned apps to be installed, the OS would probably be forked and something like Ubuntu would spawn. I'm sure google knows this, and T-Mobile. What the providers don't know is by being secret about it, they are only hurting their image. If google came out and said "We pulled the app because T-Mobile told us they didn't like it.", well at least its passing the blame, but right now the fingers seem to be pointing at both companies.

I swear, the more and more I see how companies react, the more I think we are still in grade school with bullies. Grow the eff up and get some balls to say "eff you provider we wont do that now go blow yourself." Instead google is basically bending over and saying....

Yeah, and T-Mobile tells Google to go away. There are lots of handset designers/manufacturers--there's only a few wireless operators. Basically Google needs T-Mobile's network way more than T-Mobile needs Google's phone.

You have it backwards, T-Mobile needs Google because that is what will allow them to attract more users. Google could have gone with any provider, hell, even when Google signed up with T-Mobile they didn't even have complete 3G coverage.

That doesn't make sense that T-mo would block Android tethering, when my T-mo Curve does it natively - it does it without any apps.

I simply plug the phone into the PC via USB (after installing the drivers from Blackberry, of course), tell Windows to dial *99#, and voila, dial-up connection.

If it's so easy to do on their hal-dozen or so models of Blackberry, why block it on the one and only Andriod?

The Curve doesn't run on the 3g network.

I hate it when you're right :P

Until we have another spectrum auction and radio technology has advanced to the point where 3 or 4 towers (Google would be the only one who would care to do this) can service an entire metropolitan area with an optical backhaul, expect more of the same.

vzw and att business models center on anti-innovation; squeezing the consumer to the breaking point, hoard cash in order to win spectrum at whatever cost, and lobby for a farce rule-set to make it look like you support an "open" handset. We are now seeing just how open they want your phone to be.

If you own the spectrum, you have a legal right to screw the consumer.

Google would not buy any spectrum. They had a chance and didn't win. They gave up and admitted they only were bidding to raise the prices for VZ and ATT.

Google is only around to make the money they are and could careless what the end-users think. Remember Google can not do any evil.

Unless I'm mistaken, all Google is doing is removing it from their Market application. You can still download the software and install it on Android devices with T-Mobile.

For those of you with G1's who want to keep tethering, check out PDANet. Installation takes about 5 minutes on your computer, and it installs the client directly on your phone. There's no market access required. Viva la open market.

I didn't have very good luck with PDANet on my Android. I'd get half loaded pages and flakey software on the PC side. Hopefully something better will come out.

I updated my tether app today from the market place and I am on T-Mobile.

T-Mobile needs to deal with excessive bandwidth users, not block access to applications. This whole Android platform is about openness. That needs to be rule #1!

5 GB should be the cap like the rest of the carriers. Do with it as you like.

The Android operating system is open, but that doesn't mean Android market place has to be. One thing doesn't have anything to do with the other. The Android Market Place is a separate entity form the Android operation system. Google doesn't prohibit any developer from offering their Android apps on Ebay, amazon or the developer own website. Google will not prevent tethering software from being offered by third party websites just not the Android Market Place.


On the other hand take a look at the iPhone. Apps for the iPhone can only be offered through iPhone apps store after Apple has allowed it. Any developer that tries to sell their iPhone apps on Ebay will get a take down notice. That's how a closed system operates. I have seen both Android and iPhone, and the Android is no iPhone.

This is no surprise.
Google won't even allow "Folders" in Gmail.

TMobile has really lost it regards their competitive stance for data buyers. For that matter, they've lost it on all fronts that used to distinguish them.

Google employs a couple thousand eggheads who have incredible talent, but with largess comes corporatized arrogance, blame-shifting, and selective morality.

Does half the people who write on here have a G1 or is there head so far up there iphone they don't know wats going on no offense

Google is not evil ..if google says eff tmobile ..we will keep it open ..they can lose support from t-mobile ..and not just tmobile..any US carrier no1 offeres unlimited data..so if google said well our phones will have programs avalible and u don't like it screw you..then u might as well say screw android support..a lot of carriers epically verzion cripple software behind won't want it

Tmobile runs a business..now all of y'all may or may not like to pay 50 dollars and someone telling u wat to do with their network I understand that ..but you tell me if ur neighbor pays you 20 a month on an unlimted cap fios account..and max ur connection all day..and u can't watch the latest eps of heros because he gotta have the new wolverine. Torrent..u wud ethier cap him,ban him,or slow his speeds so u can watch ur show.. so you wouldn't let someone pay u take up all ur connection and then ur kids can't do there project its at dial up speeds and ur pissed at ur neighbor and dissconnect him after telling him he cannot do that..so why shud a major company do it for you??..

Google has the right to actually take the program off your phone and they didn't ..so be happy google does no evil as far as business relations..remember the yahoo deal as soon as the government steped in..google steped out..there a we don't want problems type of company..sorry if google looks at life like a business...seeing as that's wat they are..you have the right not to use google..or any google products... and as it stands..I'm tether to my laptop now..using 3g speeds..so its not like they baned the use of it...

You all don't seem to understand that as long as any product or solution (ie: application) needs to be transported you have just become a subject of the telecom industry domain. All of you computer industry people, hardware and software are at the bottom of the food chain as far as the carriers are concerned because unless you can transport your stuff to market, you have no sales. The only way to get the wireless carriers to become open is to force it open but the "open US" approach induced too much deregulation to the point that the US carriers are too strong to overcome. We in Japan just deregulated the wireless carriers so everything MUST be open. We have changed the food chain daynamics. NTT Docomo MUST allow free access and they cannot even stop what terminal device goes on it.