You may be thinking

yes Android needs more and I’m sure you could think of 5 things right now that you feel Android needs to add that would make it even better.

Well that would be another article, as this is more about the manufactures that make hardware to run Android and what I feel Google needs to do.

This is all about android and what I feel Google needs to do to be able to take the market share away from the other dominate smartphone makers, Apple being the number one giant to overcome

First things first

Let me cover some things first, so you have a better idea why I feel this is so important.

Let’s go back to the beginning of Android and the joy we all felt when we heard that Android was open for hardware manufactures to develop hardware for it. This was the day that every person who likes a good smartphone jumped, clapped and sang in joy. You see, as much as we may or may not like the iphone, the fact is if you don’t like the hardware style then you really need to like the os. You see apple is the only one making hardware for ios, so if the form factor is not to your liking then you either get over it or look for another smartphone.

So this would leave you with Blackberry, winmo, and/or any other Symbian device. But after Apple came along all the other players seemed a little out dated. So the push to come with the next best smartphone was on.

The Competition

Let’s start with Blackberry, as you know they did come out with a new version of the os, but the first version was buggy at best. Plus you can that Blackberry was designed for the professional in mind and not the average user. Now I know a lot of people use Blackberry, but for the most part it’s an os all on its own. The best thing Blackberry had going for it was, the status it carried to say you owned a blackberry. Plus keep in mind how many users (not professionals) use the blackberry mail functions? From my experience not many at all, the status of owning a Blackberry is not the same as it once was.

So next we have Symbian, talk about putting up walls to developers. The cost to be able to create and work with Symbian was out rages and the likes of Android were all that was needed to push developers to a new platform. Now I know Symbian has gone through some major changes in the last 5 months, but only time will tell if it was to little to late. As I’m sure Symbian will always have a place in the phone market arena, as not all phones can run on Android Nor should they.

The new phone 7 is still new, but with the force of Microsoft behind them they should be able to hold their own. I have played with a few devices iphone, blackberry, Nokia and from my personal experience have found it to be the fastest Smartphone I have used to date. As with the iphone, Microsoft has seemed to move to the same idea. What I mean is, as an old winmo user I miss not being able to get to the file system. The new approach is keep it simple and locked down. The good news is most users could care less about getting their hands dirty and messing with the core system. Looks like Microsoft has kept there source code close as Manufacturers are not allowed to change the core os. All they can do is add some images and or a home screen panel. I also read that HTC was not happy about this and some agreement was made to be able to get the famed HTC sense on their devices.

More points

TOk enough with all the other players let’s get back to our beloved Android os. Just like Microsoft has stopped manufactures from changing the core of the os, Android needs to do the same. Now before you jump up and say hey we don’t need another locked down version of ios or winmo. Look at it this way, you go out and buy a new smartphone and for the most part get locked into some kind of term with your carrier. Or you can afford to pay full price. So you are now a proud owner of a new 500 to 600 dollar minicomputer. 6 Months from now an update come out to address some security issues and also add a few new features. You then have to wait for the manufacture to make all the changes to Android, so we can get the update. Now the time it takes and the resources for this to happen must be through the roof. As for an example, I’m the owner of an Xperia X10. I bought my phone knowing it was already out-dated but was assured from SE that it was getting Android 2.1. By the time SE was able to work out the bugs, they have added so much stuff to Android to make it their own. The new update was already out-dated with a new version at the time 2.2. Now I waited for SE to update my device for over 6 months and now Android has moved on to version 3. So I have not had my Smartphone for a year yet and already own an out-dated device. Now don’t get me wrong this is not an issue with Se only as I’m sure it’s the same with all manufactures.

Let’s move to Google for a minute,

Ok Google has only released 2 android phones and left the rest of the market open to manufactures who want to jump on the bus. This is a good thing with a few hitches. I believe that we buy a smartphone based on a couple things, status, operating system and form factor (ok most of us are stuck with the phones our carriers have and the deal we can get). We don`t buy a phone based on the added features the manufacture likes to add. Now if you are a person who buys a phone based on the features added buy a manufacturer please leave a comment below. This is the key point for me, manufactures and there need to embed stuff into the heart of the os. This practice slows down release dates, can cause instability, and more. Now I`m not saying manufactures don`t have or should not be allowed to create or add features. They just need to be apps, not hard encoded into the os. Just like computers, dell, hp, sony and others create apps and then install them. So in my opinion this is where Google needs to make some changes, keep a tight leash on its Android os and not allow manufactures to alter the code. You see smartphones are getting faster and more and more like small computers. This includes the price, how many of us can afford to buy a new phone every 6 months. It would be much easier to update an app then it would be to recompile the os to get some feature that many of us don`t use or try to remove. I look at it this way, once a manufacture makes a phone and gets Android running smooth. All that is need to get an update onto the phone is to make a few adjustments, not re compile the os to again get some feature that they want to add. I`m going to go back to Apple here, you see if you were one of the first owners of iphone you can still get updates. Now without question if the hardware requirements change for any os, I feel the average person would understand that they need to buy a new phone. But for now if you want to get the latest and greatest from Android and don’t own a Google phone, you will most likely have to buy a whole new phone. This sounds like a great way to win over customers. LOL

The nuts and bolts

Here’s what needs to happen.

Conclusion

From what I’ve seen so far, buy an apple and get the latest in features and security for a few years. Phone 7 looks to have adopted the same strategy, as the one update has been available to all devices. Only time will tell if the current devices will get any real major updates / upgrades.

The good news is Android has been well received and has enough of a following to now be able to pull in the leash and keep Android pure. Look, at this point if Google changed the policies for manufactures, they would have to follow as they can't afford to loose the Android market share. You see there really is only Apple, Android and phone 7 now. HTC, Samsung, LG and others don’t make a phone for blackberry. Nokia makes their own phones to run Symbian (ok if you are a diehard Symbian user please share with us what you like about Symbian). Plus Apple is all on its own, locked down tighter than Fort Worth.

Feel free to leave some comments, if you are the proud owner of a new Nexus S and can shed some light on the pluses of this phone please fill me in