Android is open unless you want to change your search engine to Google, or u...
It's almost comical watching these Carriers shoot themselves in the foot. This is all paving the way for a Google powered phone service. Apple will have the premium device and run on a few selected carriers who they can dominate. Google will have a solid device running a a premium Android or Chrome and will rely on it's own network to provide service.
via asymco by asymco on 9/9/10
That means no seamless integration with Gmail. No Google Latitude. No multitouch in the map app, either. And in place of the free and fantastic turn-by-turn Google Navigator app, Verizon installed its VZ Navigator service — a feature which costs $10 a month to use.
It would be one thing for Verizon to set the default search and map app to Bing with the option to switch back to Google. But it's utterly inexcusable for Verizon to destroy the possibility of a switch without the user having to root the device and, under Verizon's company policies, void their warranty. And on top of that, repeatedly charge you for a sub-par service instead of keeping the gold standard of navigation apps for free.
And as bad as that is, there's now a rumor that Verizon will be doing this again. On every single one of its Android devices.
Regardless of motivations, the restriction if broadly applied would have Verizon reneging on its pledge to support the openness of Android and reflects a wider trend of the OS being artificially restricted by carriers. Most US providers are disabling Android 2.2′s tethering support in favor of their own, and AT&T has banned non-Market Android apps under the pretext of security. The moves paradoxically leave Apple's iPhone more open in some areas, as its users can choose Google, Bing or Yahoo for search and don't have first-party apps deliberately hidden or broken.
