[morphius]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

If it's baked into the manufacturers skin then it can't be removed without flashing a modified ROM. For instance, on Samsung devices you can download a new launcher and use that, but you can't get rid of Touchwiz launcher.

All of these changes slow down the phone, and more importantly, contribute to a very fragmented Android.

For example, today Samsung announced the S III. So two years ago, they launched the original S and worked with Google on the Nexus S soon after. They have near identical hardware. The Nexus S runs Android 4.0.4 (the latest Android build). The Galaxy S variants run anything from Eclair to Gingerbread, but Samsung has already abandoned most (now all?) of them and won't upgrade them further.

There's nothing wrong with the hardware in those devices. Not cutting edge, but capable. But Samsung doesn't want to bother, because they've released a gazillion (no exaggeration) new devices that come first and they make their money off of selling new hardware, not actually supporting it. So you could have millions of Android phones running the latest software, but instead of have a fragmented mess.

I don't have a problem with skins. It's just that what Samsung announced today was really boring and shit, and yet it'll sell a lot. And in a year they'll abandon it, announce a new phone, and repeat. I hope Google can change that, and their cheap unlocked price for the Nexus is a great start! Hopefully the Motorola purchase goes through and they can begin to change the culture of these companies that wish they were still selling proprietary dumb phones.

I think the biggest problem is the phone companies, it costs them a bunch to re-certify devices. Apple forcing their hand is probably the only reason they get upgraded.