I'm pretty sure those companies obtained a license from Google. There was android before the Nexus 1. WM 7 will be on multiple devices but it isn;t open
Actually, Android is released under an Apache style open source license. Anyone can build a device around it. There are just a few nice google provided applications for Android that aren't released under the same license and have to negotiated for separately. There are quite a few community provided android releases for existing devices which have not received official upgrades to newer versions, or which (not legally) add back the google apps.
A lot of Android phones are getting officially provided upgrades to newer versions of the platform. There are a few which aren't, such as the G1, which can't be upgraded for technical reasons (not enough flash storage to hold the rom image, etc.).
The standard that is emerging for both Android and Iphone platforms is of a fairly long term support window on the order of 5 years. Applications are forwards compatible over that time frame. New OS releases are back ported to older hardware while introducing new functionality and API exposure for hardware features found in newer phones.
Nokia is still thinking in terms of a 1-off device mentality and with the N900 the window of support compared to previous devices has shrunken remarkably, with few seasoned users expecting any substantive development / fixes for the platform past a year from initial release. If we are lucky, we will have some degree of compatibility with QT applications released for Meego, but there are tons of core functionality issues with the N900 that will never be fixed/addressed by Nokia & are unlikely to be addressed by community releases or impossible to do so due to closed source components.
It's not incredibly difficult, it just involves rooting your phone and reflashing to one of the custom ROMs. Oh, and then reinstalling all your apps that aren't able to be included in the ROM (although some of the newer Cyanogen updates do this for you).
It is more effort than I've been willing to do, however; which is why my Android phone is still stuck at 1.6.
I was just trying to draw attention to the fact that folks on here who are talking about how much better it is on the Android side of the fence aren't necessarily correct. Android has it's own bureaucratic nonsense (like coordinating updates between Google, the handset manufacturer, and the carrier).
A lot of Android phones are getting officially provided upgrades to newer versions of the platform. There are a few which aren't, such as the G1, which can't be upgraded for technical reasons (not enough flash storage to hold the rom image, etc.).
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But the MeeGo is a "new" OS. And other Android phones have to wait a bit to get the update. The Cliq is fairly new and it doesn't have 2.1 yet and 2.2 is out.
Even Motorola doesn't have a set date for the Droid's 2.2 update
But doesn't that defeat the openness of it all? I think it should be no different from flashing the Sense UI onto a Nexus 1
There's no "openness of it all". The operating system is open. The operating system even comes with an open UI (that you'd have to compile and adapt for your device yourself, though). - Then there's somebody else who puts the operating system on a piece of hardware, does not use the open UI though but replaces it with some closed bits and pieces.
That's what you get in the end.
License-wise, that's still more open than Android for example.
So... does this make PR1.2 on the N900 pretty much like Diablo (Maemo 4.1) for the N810... a dead end? Or are their more updates scheduled for Maemo5 after PR1.2?
Oh well. I wonder if that means that the price for the N900 will drop even faster now. It's not getting the next OS officially.
Ouch. You almost got me three times, Nokia. Almost.
So... does this make PR1.2 on the N900 pretty much like Diablo (Maemo 4.1) for the N810... a dead end? Or are their more updates scheduled for Maemo5 after PR1.2?
Oh well. I wonder if that means that the price for the N900 will drop even faster now. It's not getting the next OS officially.
Ouch. You almost got me three times, Nokia. Almost.
