News - Operators set to take back control of Android phones

[HEXUS]

LBS giant Telmap says Android can be tailored far more than most people realise.

Read more.

[crossy]

We spoke to Motti Kushnir (pictured), CMO of Telmap, and he revealed that operators are at liberty to preinstall their own software and services in preference to Google ones on Android handsets if they feel like it.

NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

And how many of the good folks out there in Hexusland would choose such an "improved" handset? Judging by the widespread flaming that Vodafone got for dicking around with their handsets, I strongly suspect that the amount is probably close to zero.

Either that, or those handsets would be rooted and debranded very quickly.

I'm not saying that Google should be unchallenged - heck, I bought CoPilot nav software for my 'droid phone because it does some things that Google Maps doesn't - but to get an Android phone and then start stripping off the stuff that makes it such strikes me as a little perverse.

[jim]

Fine, but please don't.

Clue: If you do, I won't buy your phones.

[Barkotron]

A very common recurring theme in the mobile world is how operators can avoid becoming ‘dumb pipes'.

Give up. Please. A dumb pipe and a handset hire purchase scheme is all anyone wants from you - especially if they've had the misfortune of experiencing the "value-added" services you keep trying to push.

[Tunnah]

android really needs a default program setting, so you can download and try out other types and then set which 1 you want as default

[miniyazz]

It wouldn't be so bad if you could even uninstall the pre-installed rubbish without rooting the thing.

[Fraz]

Fine in principle, as long as the replacement software is at least as good as what Google offers. In practice, this is doubtful to ever be the case.

Frankly, I hate the attempts of what are primarily hardware companies to write software. It's invariably totally crap, and has a tiny user base. An example of this is the software that came with my girlfriend's Samsung Galaxy Apollo phone: a 100MB application that was basically a crap re-write of Windows Media Player, when all I really needed was just the USB driver.

This sort of thing is also why I hate Sony when it comes to devices that connect to a PC. God alone knows why they have to have proprietary everything. Their software is dreadful!

[cheesemp]

android really needs a default program setting, so you can download and try out other types and then set which 1 you want as default

It does for browsers - just like Windows opening file types selector - If I choose a link I get Browser (Android built in), Dolphin Broswer HD (My usual choice) and Skyfire. I can choose a default but haven't so far. Be good if it could do it for maps - but yes I agree with others - Vanilla droid please!

[crossy]

Give up. Please. A dumb pipe and a handset hire purchase scheme is all anyone wants from you - especially if they've had the misfortune of experiencing the "value-added" services you keep trying to push.

+1 on this - dumb pipes and clever customer-services/technical-support is what we want. Instead we get "clever"/value-add pipes and dumb CS helldesks (or at least that's the deal with Three)

android really needs a default program setting, so you can download and try out other types and then set which 1 you want as default

You can do this - I get a choice when I select a URL (Browser or Opera), Photo (Mediascape, PicSayPro or PhotoshopExpress), and a couple of others. Okay it's not the same as a default - but it's close.

It wouldn't be so bad if you could even uninstall the pre-installed rubbish without rooting the thing.

True, but I'd suggest it's no worse than other devices (iPhone?) in this respect. At least once you've found a root method (preferably one-click), it's fairly easy to do some weeding. In my case I wanted backups anyway, so I put on the free (!) Titanium Backup and used that.

This sort of thing is also why I hate Sony when it comes to devices that connect to a PC. God alone knows why they have to have proprietary everything. Their software is dreadful!

If you're talking about the Timescape dross on their phones - then agree 100%. On the other hand, I've had no problems going non-Sony for quite a few things. Okay, firmware upgrading (both of them) is probably best done with SEUS, but you can use MyPhoneExplorer (donationware recommended by a moderator on Sony's own support forums) instead of PC Companion (very much recommended - PCC is pretty poor); and my fancy Walkman will happily use WMP or iTunes for it's admin. Heck, I've even managed to use Rhythmbox on Ubuntu to manage content.
In summary, they're getting better, but still are far from perfect.

[Andeh13]

I am only reinforcing what everyone has said above but I wish the half-wit operators would keep their crap software to themselves. Its nothing more then willy waving & each operator wanting each phone to be as branded/linked to them as possible.

[aidanjt]

Fine in principle, as long as the replacement software is at least as good as what Google offers. In practice, this is doubtful to ever be the case.

Frankly, I hate the attempts of what are primarily hardware companies to write software. It's invariably totally crap, and has a tiny user base. An example of this is the software that came with my girlfriend's Samsung Galaxy Apollo phone: a 100MB application that was basically a crap re-write of Windows Media Player, when all I really needed was just the USB driver.

This sort of thing is also why I hate Sony when it comes to devices that connect to a PC. God alone knows why they have to have proprietary everything. Their software is dreadful!

Tis simples, Not Invented Here syndrome. Although I hate 'value-added' nonsense everywhere, my rage is especially strong upon receiving a new laptop, loaded up with crapware, and no vanilla Windows disc. :twitch: