Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: android, google, vodafone, cell, phone | Themes: 3GSM, Smartphones
A big part of Android is all of the Googley bells and whistles it brings with it. Email, search, maps, it’s all there. So what happens when networks want to take that out?
European network provider Vodafone says that we could soon see a stripped down version of Android that would soon allow for network specific clients like email. According to TechRadar, Rachel Williams from Vodafone highlighted the fact that while the HTC Magic contains all the Google features we've come to expect tightly integrated, future offerings of the software might be more of a “basic package where networks will want to put their own clients on there instead.”
We can see where the network is coming from, but we figure networks will have to be very careful about how they approach this. For many people, the fact that Android has all the Google trimmings is the selling point. If they were to buy an Android-phone that was without Gmail or Google Maps they’d probably be pretty disappointed. Would you guys buy an Android-based cell phone if it was missing important Google features like Gmail or would you prefer to stay away from network-specific email clients?
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I got my G1 and had to sign-in with a Google account before I could even use the phone, kinda annoying. Then, it used Google Mail for my contacts list (meaning everything I had already uploaded to T-Mobile's online contact list was unavailable). It also automatically synced my email and calendar to the phone using a special G-Mail app, but I had to add my Yahoo account (my main email) to a separate Email app (yeah, two apps to check email, thanks).
My fiancee, on the other hand, was able to use all the same features on her blackberry (Google Maps, GMail, GMail contacts and calendar, etc...), no problem.
Long story short, any decent smart phone can use any of Google's services, they don't have to be (nor should they be) tied into the damn OS, especially if you don't want them.
ANDROID IS GOOGLE!!!!!!!!!!!
ANDROID-GOOGLE=?????????????
Dont care....im waiting for the modu...besides smart phones are awesome, and i think android is a good OS, but 90% of us dont need or use a smart phone
Im just waiting for virus to start spreading across all these OS/Platform based phones (smartphones) and start spreading spam and prank calls across the networks and bluetooth - i await the day.
I'd rather buy a smartphone with NO dedicated email crap. Though I use Gmail I think you really need a good platform and a browser to start out. The rest is about options and customization. Isn't it the raison d'etre for smartphones? Proprietry stuff already exits and really works, why the hell go android on it if not the desire to choose?
I've been using my HTC Tilt for a while now. I don't have a google account, but the prospect of having updates for the applications for my phone sounds promising. While the messaging interface for my sms messages is all right, I would have liked seeing updates such as organizing sms chat sessions so that my sent and received messages go in order, like a IM chat session. If google can update their apps with useful new features, etc then I would prefer their client over something the network providers give that will NEVER get an update.
I'd like to have to OS stripped down (no carrier bullshit either, if anything has to come pre-installed I'll take the google apps) and then you have to option of selecting which apps you want.
I wouldn't mind network provided software...as long as you weren't locked into using it. Isn't that supposed to be one of the big selling points of Android?
"Don't like 'X'? Then replace it with something else."