Google May Have To Make Major Changes To Android in Response To a Forthcoming Fine in Europe (washingtonpost.com) 274
Google could face a new record penalty this month from European regulators for forcing its search and Web-browsing tools on the makers of Android-equipped smartphones and other devices, potentially resulting in major changes to the world's most widely deployed mobile operating system. From a report: The punishment from Margrethe Vestager, the European Union's competition chief, is expected to include a fine raging into the billions of dollars, according to people familiar with her thinking, marking the second time in as many years that the region's antitrust authorities have found that Google threatens corporate rivals and consumers. At the heart of the E.U.'s looming decision are Google's policies that pressure smartphone and tablet manufacturers that use Google's Android operating system to pre-install the tech giant's own apps. In the E.U.'s eyes, device makers such as HTC and Samsung face an anti-competitive choice: Set Google Search as the default search service and offer Google's Chrome browser, or lose access to Android's popular app store. Lacking that portal, owners of Android smartphones or tablets can't easily download games or other apps -- or services from Google's competitors offered by third-party developers.
Special Crappy EU Edition? (Score:2)
Well I imagine Google might have to Fork android in EU then. That's probably the best solution as I don't think anyone else in the world wants to use an Android phone without the Android store.
Wait..What? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Google provides a free as in beer OS (some of it is OSS but not all)
AFAIK, everything Google provides is OSS (mostly Apache 2 licensed). What Google provides isn't enough to make a functional phone, though. There's a whole vendor layer which has to be provided by the device maker.
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I see the difference...
Apple -> You may not play in our garden with your device, nor may you alter our device to play in another garden, no way, no how.. And by the way, we have strict rules for what you can do IN our garden.
Google -> You MAY play in our garden or any other garden you choose with your device, but if you wish to play in our garden, you must follow our rules.
One has high stone walls and NO door or gate. You either start inside the wall or you don't get in.. The other has a nice fence
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Google is in trouble because their policies interfere with competition. You wanna use our app store, you gotta use our search. They leverage one product to force third parties to include their other products.
Apple doesn't do that. You buy a phone from apple. Apple provides a service where you can download apps for that phone.
Apple could get in trouble for anti-competitive practices, but since they're a minority player, that would be tough to sell. Google isn't a monopoly, but they are engaging in the t
Perhaps a nitpick, but yes they do, and much more (Score:2)
> You wanna use our app store, you gotta install our search.
> Apple doesn't do that.
Actually if you want to use Apple's app store, you DO have to have their search. Also their voice assistant, their messaging app, their camera app, their email app, their news app, their hardware ...
You can't get a phone with Apple's app store installed unless it also has 36 other Apple apps bundled too.
Google says "our app store is part of our bundle of five or six apps". Apple bundles 37 apps with its app store. So
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You as an individual have to, yes. Antitrust law doesn't care about you.
You as a company do not. If you build a phone you actually can use Darwin, but you can't use any of Apple's apps, their GUI, or their store. They won't force you to use any of them either.
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The end-user can hide them on any platform (Score:2)
Yes, the end user can hide the icon, on any platform.
That's not what this is about. It's about you can't buy or sell a new phone with the app store installed unless it also has other apps installed.
Google requires that any phones shipped with its app store also ship with several of Google's apps, and icons for a few more, which aren't actually installed.
Apple requires any phone using its app store to come with 37 Apple apps pre-installed.
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You wanna use our app store, you gotta use our search.
No, "you wanna use our app store, you must include our base apps". Nobody is forced to use Google for searches. Nobody is forced to use Google Maps or Google Drive or any of the other google apps.
Now, I had a Chinese tablet with a version of Notdroid and no access to the Google Play store, and I can tell you it was a REAL PAIN getting it to do anything productive. Amazon is a poor second-class app source. The only nice thing about Amazon is they had the "free app of the day", but that eventually became a p
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Same difference, as far as the law is concerned.
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I see the difference...
Apple -> You may not play in our garden with your device, nor may you alter our device to play in another garden, no way, no how.. And by the way, we have strict rules for what you can do IN our garden.
Google -> You MAY play in our garden or any other garden you choose with your device, but if you wish to play in our garden, you must follow our rules.
One has high stone walls and NO door or gate. You either start inside the wall or you don't get in.. The other has a nice fence and a door with a list of regulations on it.
So, pray tell, what's to stop YOU, or ANYBODY, from writing their OWN iOS Software and loading it onto THEIR iOS device(s)?
How do you think all that App Store software gets written in the FIRST PLACE? What a MAROON!!!
There are even avenues for Distribution of said Software. There are several F/OSS and .ipa Repositories; plus you are ABSOLUTELY free to start your OWN iOS App Store. Yes, you heard that right.
You Slashtard Apple-Haters are fucking STUPID.
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Who said I hate Apple? I'm just pointing out the differences in how they do business.
They have their business model and make money so do makers of Android devices. I have no ax to grind or chop down Apple's tree with and I have no dog hunting in the Android world. If they are making money with their business model, power to them.
Some folks enjoy the security of the walled garden where strict controls protect you, others like the flexibility of being able to move beyond the walls and accept the risks of do
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So, pray tell, what's to stop YOU, or ANYBODY, from writing their OWN iOS Software and loading it onto THEIR iOS device(s)?
$99 per year for developer registration and purchase of a Mac, for starters... For Android I can use pretty much any computer I already have (including my phone that will run the app).
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No one is forcing you to use Chrome! (Score:3)
Re:No one is forcing you to use Chrome! (Score:5, Informative)
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Google intentionally makes certain aspects Chrome only.
For example?
It's OPEN SOURCE (Score:2)
It's freaking Open Source. you can get what you need to build your own here https://source.android.com/ [android.com]
If a manufacturer wants something else they can damn well build it themselves.
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It's freaking Open Source. you can get what you need to build your own here https://source.android.com/ [android.com]
If a manufacturer wants something else they can damn well build it themselves.
What's more, the Apache 2.0 license doesn't require you release your source for your branch... So hardware developers are free to port Android to their hardware and not be required to release their source code or resort to delivering binary blobs of independently developed drivers..
Calm down! (Score:3)
This time it's not MsMash's fault - it's like that in the original!
I have an idea (Score:3)
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I have a Samsung flagship phone from a few years ago, and after a factory reset with the default apps installed the 16GB memory card has 500MB free. It can't even download updates if I install a single small app. So yes, 150MB wasted is a big deal.
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Sorry, I should have said "16GB internal storage." On a related note, it's annoying that Android doesn't install apps to the SD card very well. It is similar to how Windows was back around '95, when apps put much of their files on the C: drive even if you installed them on D. At some point I'll break down and root the dang thing, delete all the Samsung garbage, and probably double my available internal storage space.
Merit to have or not to have (Score:2)
The primary issue the EU is arguing is that Google uses a monopoly position to encourage or force hardware vendors to include as default certain features in Android OS. Other software monopolies have tried to solve this anti-competitive issue by giving a selection of competitive options, even if a preferred option is listed first or has advertising to suggest choosing the preferred option.
The Microsoft Windows anti-competitive EU (2009) and US(1998) case was this issue but also the fact that IE was baked in
EU regulators need to learn... (Score:2)
What a walled garden is, how they're constructed, and why. Android and iOS are both walled gardens, and even Microsoft is attempting to make Windows a walled garden.
All garden walls crumble; just look at IBM and AOL.
Who is this for? Not the consumer. (Score:2)
I've had a Samsung during the S5 generation and hated that I couldn't get rid of their crap apps and put Google apps on. I now have a Pixel XL, and it is much nicer without the Samsung junk. I guess I could have rooted the Samsung and put Google on, but why should I have to do that?
Google started forcing the manufacturers to be more standard because Android is not a monopoly - competition with Apple forced it. In terms of what matters, profit, not gross, Apple is so far out in front that Android could be co
Billion fine (Score:2)
Unlike microsoft (Score:2)
Google is giving Android away for free. I guess google could offer two versions of Android. A paid one, and a free, search supported one.
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Re:So how much (Score:5, Informative)
The EU are trying to avoid a Microsoft Windows situation on mobile phones.
With Android being the only realistic OS available outside of Apple, it seems like a smart move to avoid another monopoly.
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That doesn't make any sense. Android is Google's product and if you're an OEM you are free not to use it and come up with your own mobile OS. If you use Android, Google politely requires you to adhere to their rules because that's the only way to provide a high-quality OS and good experience.
I don't understand this antitrust lawsuit against Google at all. What are Europe authorities advocating for? For breaking Android up into incompatible versions? For breaking up Google's Android department?
Re:So how much (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it in the interest of consumers that Google gets more power than they already have?
Was it good that Microsoft ruled the PC platform for 20 years?
Re:So how much (Score:4, Insightful)
Microsoft still does rule the PC platform. They're also trying to pull an Apple/Google by forcing patches, tying their search bar to cortana instead of being a basic explorer search, trying to push people onto the Windows store, etc.
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But as endpoint computing has moved over to mobile platforms, their real power has been severly deminished.
And as we move even further over to mobile platforms, we may not want Google to be the Microsoft of mobile phones.
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The problem is that Android is (as I wrote) now the only realistic alternative for mobile phone manufacturers.
Is it in the interest of consumers that Google gets more power than they already have?
Was it good that Microsoft ruled the PC platform for 20 years?
If you want to decrease the market share of Android, probably the quickest way to do this would be to force iOS to allow other manufacturers to create hardware for their device.
Apple has no incentive to allow this because they currently have insanely high profit margins.
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If you want to decrease the market share of Android, probably the quickest way to do this would be to force iOS to allow other manufacturers to create hardware for their device.
Can't be done, legally, and thank $Deity it can't.
No more than the EU can force Samsung to allow other companies to make their smartphones under license.
See how absurd it sounds when the word "Apple" isn't in the sentence?
However, IMHO, this is an absurd position by the EU. Samsung, HTC, LG, et al. are absolutely free to write their OWN mobile OS. After all, one could start with any flavor of Embedded Linux, or like Apple did, a Mach/BSD Unix, and write their OWN mobile OS. Apple did. What's THEIR excuse?
Bu
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Was it good that Microsoft ruled the PC platform for 20 years?
Yes, and it's a good thing they continue to do so. IT/web/PC market expansion was slow until the mid 1990s when Microsoft really started to dominate things. Turns out a common platform really helps industries grow by leaps and bounds. Otherwise you end up with a situation where you have to port your code to 7 different platforms, build 6 different adapter cards for different buses, etc. A common platform is a good thing for nearly any market. You can argue if Microsoft was "good or bad", but the concep
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If Microsoft would behave like this and dominate 80% of the mobile market, just as it once dominated the Web with IE, people here would scream.
Somehow, Google with its historic "don't be evil" seems to have an unlimited amount of credit here.
Monopolies are always bad. Monopolies lead to power, and power corrupts, always.
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Monopolies are always bad. Monopolies lead to power, and power corrupts, always.
You need to look at the big picture. Google provides an entire mobile operating system, free, including the source and the licensing to use the source however you want (see: Amazon). To anyone. Then they provide an entire suite of apps, again FREE (but no the source).
The Google suite of apps only makes money off search. Most of them have zero advertising. If you allow companies to take most of the Google apps then leave out the one app that makes Google any money in the whole deal, what do you think is goin
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Android is Google's product
Well that couldn't be more wrong. Android is an OSS operating system.
https://source.android.com/ [android.com]
Manufacturers like HTC and Samsung take AOSP* and customize** it for their devices. They then pre-load the Google suite of apps like Maps and App Market, etc. Google apps are NOT part of Android proper.
Now, Google employees are by far the largest contributors to Android and the surrounding ecosystem. But nonetheless the source is sitting right there for any company to take and build their own product (which many
Re:So how much (Score:5, Insightful)
The point of antitrust law is that if you have a (near) monopoly in one area, you are not allowed to (ab)use that to also gain a monopoly in another area. Antitrust law always removes freedom of enterprise for the (assumed) benefits of consumers. The justification for this is that free markets work well iff there is healthy competition; and that if left alone companies tend to concentrate by merger or natural growth and then get monopoly pricing power (see e.g. the history of US railways). If there is only two companies left, they have a very strong incentive to merge because as monopolists they can make much more profit than when they are in competition with each other. So, in reaction to the abuses of (especially) 19th century capitalism the government stepped in to break up companies, prevent mergers, and restrict the freedom of (near) monopolists if break up is not sensible or not needed.
Concretely, it is fine if a random linux distro would by default install its own browser. However, if MS by default installs its own browser on its (near) monopoly desktop OS, it is abusing its OS market power to increase its market share in the browser market.
So, yes, if android didn't have a (near) monopoly there would be no problem. However, now that it is a near monopoly they lose the freedom to use their mobile OS market share to effectively push their other services onto users.
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When I install Windows, I expect it to have a web browser. I don't care if it is IE or EDGE - if I don't want to use what's provided, the first thing I do is download an alternative. But I can't do that if the operating system is crippled.
Same with Android. If I buy an Android phone, I expect it to have certain defaults, and I expect it to have the Play store. From there I can go and do whatever I want to configure it to my needs.
Yes, there are problems with limited choice - but there are also practical pro
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The EU are trying to avoid a Microsoft Windows situation on mobile phones.
The Microsoft Windows situation went like this:
1. MIcrosoft was falsely accused of 'monopoly' because at the time of the accusation a large majority of computer users happened to be running Windows.
2. In a Kurt Vonnegut-style attempt to settle the dispute, MS was made to cripple its virus detection by pulling it out of Windows and replacing it with a motley band of third-party antivirus systems. The best of these merely sucked, as opposed to fatally bogging down PCs.
3. Other operating systems sprang up in
Re:So how much (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple is not "far bigger". Kind of hard to be "biggest" offernder when 4 Androids are sold for every iPhone. And all those Androids have one common theme - all the manufacturers have to obey Google's rules to put Google's stuff on it.
And the reality of life is, if you don't have the Play Store, you don't have crap.
You have to remember this probably came out of a long-simmering debate when Nokia tried to release their phone with their maps instead of Google's...
And Apple may be a monopoly, but it's only one phone out of a sea of phones. Just like you don't complain when you buy a Ford Mustang and it has a Ford motor inside of it, or that Ford dealerships only provide Ford options even if you wanted that JVC headunit.
Re:So how much (Score:4, Insightful)
Really? What about f-droid and more than [androidpit.com] a dozen [fossbytes.com] of other app stores?
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Try asking your parents or grandparents how they'll install a new app, and when they say they'll use the Play Store (I'm assuming they're not saying they'll call you), say "Other than that." Make sure to snap a picture of the deer-in-headlights look you're gonna get.
Any Android phone that gets so much as RUMORED to not have access to the Play Store is not going to get sold at all.
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> And the reality of life is, if you don't have the Play Store, you don't have crap.
And if you want to sell an Android phone without access to Google's services, good fucking luck. Any manufacturer who wants to sell a non-google Android phone cannot sell an Android phone with Google Play access. Amazon had to find a manufacturer who could build their phone without having to worry about losing their Google Play access.
Re: So how much (Score:2)
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> Why go after Google first when Apple is by far the bigger offender?
Because Apple's marketshare is not much.You are allowed to do anti-competitive things unless you are a monopoly.
Being a monopoly doesn't break anti-trust laws by itself. Doing anti-competitive doesn't break anti-trust laws by itself. It's when both happen together is when it's a problem.
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Have you compared Apple's profits vs. the rest of the mobile industry? Apple's margins are insane in comparison to everyone else. Android OEMs basically give out their devices for free. And what about Apple using all the loopholes in the world not to pay taxes? Why isn't Europe fining Apple for billions of dollars because in the real world Apple is a far worse offender.
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Yes. They're large.
Monopoly, though, is defined by market share.
Re:So how much (Score:5, Interesting)
Windows is still a monopoly in regard to x86 desktop hardware. Windows has so many limitations and obligations, Android pales in comparison. When was the last lawsuit against Microsoft? Or they are regularly paying billions of dollars in fines to EU each year? Enlighten me please.
Unfortunately (Score:2)
we don’t do supernovae on Slashdot.
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Yes, Windows is still a monopoly. It's why there are special editions of Windows without Media Player and IE by default for EU regions. And even Korea gets its own version (The K version).
The big thing that MIcrosoft did was stop
Re:So how much (Score:5, Insightful)
This is exactly it. It's not the underlying Android OS, it's the Google Play Services -- the middleware that enables smartphone ecosystem functionality -- that's the key issue. Google's been moving more and more functionality into that, and then locks manufacturers down in the exact same way Microsoft used to do with various hardware manufacturers vis-a-vis Windows licenses.
Frankly, we would be a in a much healthier place if Android OS was strong and it was forced to allow a choice of various middleware systems. Don't like Google Services? Use something else. True freedom even if you're not compiling your own smartphone OS yourself.
To do this will require serious anti-trust work, DOJ oversight, demands that non-Google-Inc functions be placed in the OS layer, and a removal of restrictions on hardware makers by Google.
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Have you compared Apple's profits vs. the rest of the mobile industry? Apple's margins are insane in comparison to everyone else. Android OEMs basically give out their devices for free. And what about Apple using all the loopholes in the world not to pay taxes? Why isn't Europe fining Apple for billions of dollars because in the real world Apple is a far worse offender.
So, you're just complaining that Apple has a more successful business model than their copycats.
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"You are allowed to do anti-competitive things unless you are a monopoly."
Wrong.
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Don't use Android then. Also, Google doesn't lock anyone from providing their own software. Google wants their software to be included by default and they have the right to.
Re: So how much (Score:4, Insightful)
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Fuck no.
There's one just one Windows which is developed solely by Microsoft.
Then, there's Android which you can perfectly use without Google services and which is free to download, modify and compile.
Something is really messed up in your head.
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No he didn't, you dipshit.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re:We withdrew from the Paris agreement (Score:2)
You really need to look up what that actually means ...
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Yes... but were you forced to use Google for that?
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Stating that something is wrong with your head - because you made a bad statement - is not an ad hominem attack no matter how you try to youtube (that's not a valid source) yourself out of it.
Then to boot, your fallacy is the Fallacy Fallacy.
Back to school for you, moron.
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Oh well.
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I'm guessing that battle [cnn.com] took place long before you were born.
Re: So how much (Score:5, Insightful)
In practice there's no difference - their stuff is so bloated there's no space left for anything else.
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Facts please.
I have a 32GB Android phone and Google apps consume less than 500MB of space (including updates which still leave built-in apk files intact - that's the only way to provide safe and secure factory reset and revert to the original apps if their new versions misbehave).
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Facts please.
I have a 32GB Android phone and Google apps consume less than 500MB of space (including updates which still leave built-in apk files intact - that's the only way to provide safe and secure factory reset and revert to the original apps if their new versions misbehave).
Must be a magic phone. I have 16GB phone and the mandatory google apps take up 10+GB or space.
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Re: So how much (Score:5, Informative)
"I have a 32GB Android phone and Google apps consume less than 500MB of space"
You lying sack of shit.
Fact #1: GOOGLE PLAY SERVICES ALONE is 538 MB.
Fact #2: Chrome is 203 MB.
Fact #3: "Google" itself is 214 MB.
Fact #4: Google Maps is 181 MB.
With 4 facts we're more than double your '500MB' bullshit claim. All that took was sorting by fucking size in the app manager.
Fact #5: You have no fucking clue what you're talking about.
Re: So how much (Score:4, Insightful)
âthey have the right toâ ... citation needeed, because apparently not all authorities tasked with handling monopoly malpractices happen to agree.
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Because Apple is a closed ecosystem owned and controlled by apple. Apple doesn't let others make hardware for their software.
Where as Android is open source and has plenty of hardware from a a number of different companies, including Samsung, htc, Sony, Motorola, etc.
That's the difference. Google is locking out other companies and businesses from using software that they are allowed to provide.
Apple is completely closed and controlled by Apple and won't even let other companies use their software or create hardware for their platform and somehow you think Google is locking other companies out?
Would you rather Google become a closed ecosystem and ban other manufacturers from using their software?
Your argument makes no sense. You are basically saying that because Google is more open it has to be even more open while Apple is completely closed so that's ok.
Re:So how much (Score:4, Insightful)
Wow!
Are you saying Google will be better off by making Android a closed platform just like Apple does? Craptastic thinking on behalf of European authorities! Maybe Google should listen to them and do just that.
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I guess the crux of the matter here is the fact that android is a open software with other device manufacturers can license and build a resellable mobile device with. Where as apple is the only manufacturer out that making (Apple owned) iOS mobile devices. There's no competition and hence you can't say they are not "playing fair" with others.
I'm sure there are plenty of manufacturers that would love to create hardware that runs iOS. The reason Apple has no competition is because they refuse to allow any competition by locking out competition. Google is playing much more fair than Apple. They allow anyone to use their core OS even Amazon one of their primary competitors.
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And allow the other one (Apple) to continue monopolising and suing third service outfits unabated.
Surely the OEMs can still install their own browsers and stores and won't lose the ability to offer the user the ability to configure those at first start?
In case you haven't noticed, iOS has alternative browsers, and there are alternative iOS App Stores (F/OSS Repositories and .ipa Repositories) and independent websites galore.
But as usual, Slashtards have Willful Blindness when it comes to ANYTHING Apple.
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In case you haven't noticed, iOS has alternative browsers
False. They have alternative UIs for the pre-installed WebKit browser engine. Good luck using ANY web browser engine other than the one provided by Apple. Sure, you can put a pretty frame and UI around that engine - but you only get to use one engine - Apple's engine.
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Hitherto, Google has made the entire source code available almost the same day they released a new version.
Re:So how much (Score:5, Insightful)
Due to the network effect [wikipedia.org] that is hardly possible today.
Amazon is big enough to have a limited amount of Android fork for its own devices, that are kind of dedicated to accessing Amazon services. Other manufacturers are not in that position.
Just like it was 100% feasible to create a windows API clone (remember reactos?), it just wasn't practical, and MSFT had (and still has) a damanging monopoly for office software.
Now Google has gained an almost monopoly for the mobile market, which might be even more significant than any monopoly MSFT ever had. It is trying very hard to cement and even expand it.
It is clear that something must be done. People should not be so short sighted and believe that a Google monopoly won't be a problem.
Monopolies always lead to problems, too much concentration of power, and all the other problems that flow from that.
A free market economy can only function with healthy competition. For that reason, authorities in market econoies have always tried to prevent, or otherwise dissolve, monopolies.
If this would not be done, the company will become more powerful than the state, than the democratically chosen government, and corrupt it. It will end in fascism.
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All the EU needs to do to avoid that is stipulate Google must keep the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) repository going and up to date. Then manufacturers (or anyone else for that matter) can fork that and build their own Android-compatible OS (without Google Services).
So it's 100% feasible today to fork Android, and make a completely no-Google competing product that Google gets 0% of the revenue from. This is what Amazon does with FireOS.
Exactly!
And at least the Samsungs, LGs and HTC of the world are big enough to pull that off, if Amazon can contract out an OS, so can they, FFS!
Apple wrote their mobile OS FROM SCRATCH (as much from "scratch" as ANY OS is made, that is); so why can the rest of the Freeloaders?
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apple hides this kind of stuff under R&D
Citation, Hater.
Re:Socialism at its finest. (Score:5, Funny)
We are quite happy to have our governments fine Google for raping our privacy and stuffing our phones with bloatware, thanks very much. You can have your school massacres.
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Because Apple isn't using their app store to force anyone (corporate) to do anything. They sell a phone, that allows you to download apps from their store.
Google is in trouble because they leverage one product to force other businesses to use their other products.
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Entirely untrue. Enable "allow unknown sources" (or grant "install unknown apps" on Oreo), and you can easily download apps from non-Google source. Amazon is a competitor, and there are others.
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Why isn't there an antitrust lawsuit against Apple whose App Store is 100^100 more closed/restricted than the Android ecosystem? I really don't understand why Google isn't allowed to dictate its own rules in regard to Android - if you don't like them, you're free to use the Android core sans Google Play and associated services. What the hell is going on?
And yet you would no doubt Champion if Apple was having this handed to them, even though they are not the dominant mobile Platform, wouldn't you?
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Android is given out to OEMs more or less for free yet Android's development costs quite a lot of money. In its turn, you're right, Google demands that you use/prominently feature some of their services. Again, you may freely use core Android OS sans Google Play and associated services.
Tell me again about the "coercion" and how it relates to the fact that no one forces any OEM to use Android at all.
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Android is given out to OEMs more or less for free yet Android's development costs quite a lot of money. In its turn, you're right, Google demands that you use/prominently feature some of their services. Again, you may freely use core Android OS sans Google Play and associated services.
Tell me again about the "coercion" and how it relates to the fact that no one forces any OEM to use Android at all.
On this, we both agree.
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Why isn't there an antitrust lawsuit against Apple whose App Store is 100^100 more closed/restricted than the Android ecosystem?
Because Apple doesn't license its OS to third parties under coercive terms? As far as I can tell, Google is welcome to do whatever they like with something like Pixel or Nexus.
You mean the Apache license 2.0 is coercive now? The majority of the code is released under Apache 2.0 with a handful of the Linux Kernel things being GPL.
As I understand Android licenses, you are free to use and modify the baseline code while keeping your hardware designs closed. Doesn't sound too coercive to me.
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But the Android trademark is not free to use. To be able to call what you ship "Android" you have to agree to additional terms beyond the Apache license.
So, the fuck WHAT?
In case you haven't noticed, EVERY time you see a Logo on something; you can BET a License (a/k/a $$$) and other stipulations, was involved.
Look at the average BD/DVD Player. Mine has like 10 Logos silk-screened across the top front. Do you think those Logos didn't come with "Strings"? If so, you are naive beyond belief.
Re: (Score:2)
Again, you are not being forced to call it "android" if you use the android code base for your device. I fail to see how this is coercive, especially given the other major competitors don't share *anything* close to their source code.
Didn't Amazon pretty much make a business out of marketing their own essentially android devices w/o having to pony up the fees for the trademark? Heck, I ran a number of android apps from the "play store" on mine....
Re: (Score:2)
If I read you correctly, Apple doesn't provide any choice and Europe is OK with them, Google indeed provides choice with the only exception of mandating that their own apps must be installed, and Google is suddenly a monopoly? Also, who or what forces OEMs to install Android in the first place?
If Europe wants a third major OS/player in the mobile market then why don't they create one?
Re: (Score:3)
If I read you correctly, Apple doesn't provide any choice and Europe is OK with them, Google indeed provides choice with the only exception of mandating that their own apps must be installed, and Google is suddenly a monopoly? Also, who or what forces OEMs to install Android in the first place?
If Europe wants a third major OS/player in the mobile market then why don't they create one?
What you say is true; but it doesn't involve Apple. But I DO agree that Google isn't forcing Android on these OEMs, and IMHO, the EU should FOAD when it comes to a PRIVATE contract negotiated between two PRIVATE parties. If $OEM and Google are both happy, then the EU should just BUTT-OUT!
There is ABSOLUTELY no "Public Policy" issue here, either. The EU's citizenry is not being forced to buy an Android phone, no more than they are forced to buy an iOS phone.
The EU is the most HORRIBLE example of the "Nanny S