Nokia Boss: Google is Making Android More Closed

By Zak Islam
published

Finnish smartphone manufacturer is a Windows Phone partner.

The CEO of Finnish handset manufacturer Nokia has stated that Google is making its mobile operating system Android more closed. Chief Executive Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft employee responsible for Nokia/Windows Phone deal, had some strong remarks about Android as an ecosystem.

"The situation that Android is facing, where the amount of fragmentation that you're seeing is increasing as people take it in different directions, is of course offset by Google's efforts to turn an open ecosystem into something that's quite a bit more closed as you've seen quite recently."

Google previously decided to stop supporting the popular Exchange ActiveSync accounts service, a technology Windows Phone utilizes for push notifications for services such as Gmail.

Nokia, meanwhile, sold 4.4 million Nokia Lumia units during the fourth quarter of 2012, with overall sales of handsets being 86.3 million.

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Zak Islam
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • I love how Microsoft (and it's partners) always blames this on Google; "Google previously decided to stop supporting the popular Exchange ActiveSync accounts service, a technology Windows Phone utilizes for push notifications for services such as Gmail."

    Hey Microsoft, MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T CHARGE THEM RIDICULOUS ROYALTIES ON IT THEY WOULD STILL BE USING IT!
    Reply
  • evilsizer
    Google taking more control away from other companies might be a good thing. Companies take the operating system and lock the hell out of it. Imagine getting an Android that you felt no need to root? One of the reasons I'm looking forward to the X Phone.
    Reply
  • phatboe
    While I do agree that Android is becoming a more closed ecosystem, it's still a lot more open than WinMo. The board needs to tell Mr. Elop to STFU about google and Android because everytime he opens his mouth about it It should make shareholders less confident in the company.
    Reply
  • tului
    evilsizerGoogle taking more control away from other companies might be a good thing. Companies take the operating system and lock the hell out of it. Imagine getting an Android that you felt no need to root? One of the reasons I'm looking forward to the X Phone.The only control I care about is end users. Fsck the carriers. I wish Google would strip them of all control and sell us handsets we want. We buy them, we control them.

    I wholeheartedly agree with you.
    Reply
  • sykozis
    rekoilI love how Microsoft (and it's partners) always blames this on Google; "Google previously decided to stop supporting the popular Exchange ActiveSync accounts service, a technology Windows Phone utilizes for push notifications for services such as Gmail."Hey Microsoft, MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T CHARGE THEM RIDICULOUS ROYALTIES ON IT THEY WOULD STILL BE USING IT!My e-mail works just fine without ActiveSync....and a more closed Android is better than the overly fragmented condition it's currently in. Google needs to reclaim some control of it from phone makers. Also, dropping support for ActiveSync, has almost nothing to do with Android being more "closed" than it previously was....
    Reply
  • evilsizer
    The X Phone is being talked about being a non-contract phone. Imagine if Google bought out one of these small to middle carriers? They like to push buttons and tech in industries. What would cell service from Google on a MotoGoogle phone with Android look like? Would every carrier lose control of their bowls? I think it would get messy.
    Reply
  • notsleep
    while they're at it, they should throw out chrome os and replace it with android! :P
    Reply
  • evilsizer
    That's the truth.
    Reply
  • SAL-e
    Hey Mr. Elop before you telling us how Android becoming "bit more closed as" we "have seen quite recently.", you should tell us where I can download the source files of WP8 and Nokia Apps, especially I am interested of the source code of Nokia's implementation of ActiveSync!

    What a hypocrite!
    Reply
  • hunshiki
    How much did he get for this statement?
    Reply