When it comes to explaining the cause of Android fragmentation; we’ve heard it all … or so we thought. Recently, Motorola senior vice president Christy Wyatt voiced her thoughts on the company’s current struggles on delivering new versions of the Android OS to customers, such as Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. To no one’s surprise, Wyatt mentioned how time-consuming it is to integrate a new version of Android into Motorola’s platform.
If you read deep into the words: “integrate” and “time-consuming” you instantly think about a software related issue, right? Well, not according to Moto’s SVP. She claims that “hardware is the long pole in the tent,” adding that many hardware components found in the company’s devices need some fine tuning to fuse a new OS. When someone asked her about Motorola’s custom user interface, MOTOBLUR or whatever it’s called today, Wyatt responded saying “the software is never the hard part.”
She also talked about things we already knew, like Google prioritizing manufacturers who has dibs on the company’s “hero” device (think any Nexus phone), as this gives them access to the new code first. Sorting through all the fluff, I found that the most compelling part of what Wyatt said was carriers have the final say when it comes to updates. Motorola also says the carriers have a large impact on when things happen, or whether they happen at all. Wow.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: This ultimately is a Google issue, as it needs grow a pair and put its foot down on some of the behavior from these carriers. Truth is, the search giant has empowered the carriers way too much, giving them the last say so when upgrades go out. It’s ridiculous that only 1 percent of Android user have ICS 4.0, especially since its been out for over two months — it’s absurd. Just stating the facts, people.
[via mobileburn]