VERY sorry excuse for an article... I guess the ‘author’ never tried any of the wide variety of HTC or Motorola phones, which come with HTC and Motorola software. You MAY get a carrier logo on it, but that’s about it - it’s the phone maker’s software.
My last two smart phones came with bone-stock WinMo 6 (Samsung i760 bought September 2007) and WinMo 6.1 with HTC’s Touch UI on it (HTC Touch Pro2, bought September 2009). No Verizon software, and the only “Verizon” mark on either was a small logo up by the earpiece and the splash screen when booting (which, of course, you could change as you want - I changed both).
This article is nothing more than FUD meant to stop the tsunami that is Android. Android actually lets manufacturers, dealers, carriers, sellers - heck, even you if you wanted - brand and customize the phone as you desire. That’s called freedom and choice, and used to be celebrated by the technology press. My how times have changed...
Good point. I have the EVO 4G - and it's a fantastic phone. I really could care less that my carrier has a 3/4" wide logo at the top of the phone. It's like a mini-laptop.
Gotta agree with PSS here. Tell me, what was the holdup on tethering on the iPhone for the past few years? Was it AT&T stopping Apple from allowing it? Of course it was (AT&T now allows it, if you pay the $20/mo fee). Why did it take so long for Apple to approve a SlingPlayer for iPhone despite the fact that Sling has had one ready for years? Was it because AT&T was afraid of what it would do to their already over-burdened network?
To say that Apple somehow kept AT&T away from the device is nonsense. The article’s point seems to be that Android isn’t as open as it was made out to be. So what? Is the answer to go to a totally closed system created by Apple?
I have the Samsung Vibrant, without rooting my phone I cannot remove a variety of apps from the phone. To add insult to injury these apps often start themselves. How is this better? It seems this doesn’t do much to give me control. I hope in the next iteration of android they at least make the manufacturer skins totally decoupled from the base os.