Google ditching Android over intellectual property issues?

AppleInsider published a story that would indicate Google may be working to distance themselves from the Android Platform. AppleInsider say “The discovery that Google's new Chromecast web streaming device is based on Google TV code stripped of Android features provides additional evidence.”

Android has been a huge success story for Google and the operating system has been incorporated at the heart of millions of smartphones globally. The platform however and its close association with Andy Rubin has ‘inflicted more liability and expense on Google than it has strategic opportunity, revenues or profits.' according to AppleInsider.

Rubin was nicknamed Android while working at Apple in the early 1990's. Appleinsider are based their information from multiple sources, including the design decisions behind Google's latest Chromecast product. They say “[these] support the idea that the company now sees more future potential and interest in investing in Chrome OS than in continuing to support Rubin's Android and defending the platform from ongoing intellectual property disputes, even if the company has no interest in publicizing those intentions.”

Google have presented their Chromecast as running a scaled down ChromeOS and hackers examining the device have “it’s actually a modified Google TV release, but with all of the Bionic / Dalvik stripped out and replaced with a single binary for Chromecast.”

Appleinsider add “Bionic is Google's replacement standard C library for Android, which replaces the GPL-licensed code in Linux to avoid entangling Android software in GPL-related licensing issues. It's also optimized for running on lower end devices than the mainstream version of Linux aimed at PCs and servers.”

AppleInsider have published a huge article analysing this, you can read it here.

Kitguru says: It will be interesting to watch this over the next 24 months.

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