Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Chinese IT Ministry Looks Askance At Google's Control of Android

Posted by timothy on from the derives-from-a-mandate-from-the-masses dept.

itwbennett writes "In what one expert is calling a clear message to China's tech industry that the authorities want to support a homegrown mobile operating system, China's tech regulator warns in a white paper that the country is becoming too dependent on Google's Android OS. 'Our country's mobile operating system research and development is heavily reliant on Android,' reads the white paper from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 'Although the Android system currently remains open source, the core technologies and technology roadmap is strictly controlled by Google.'"

5 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. Fork it by kimvette · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't like it? Fork it. It's like the typical copycat bullshit China usually does, only better. Others have already taken the initiative:

    http://news.yahoo.com/three-android-forks-exist-today-135000744.html

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    1. Re: Fork it by 1u3hr · · Score: 3, Informative

      I don't even know how to cuss or ask for a beer in Chinese.

      Pok gai -- aw yiu bia jou!

  2. Uh, what? by Daetrin · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are already a number of Android forks in China, including one by the Chinese search giant Baidu, who has also replaced Google as the default search engine in most of the Android phones there.

    cf. "Android is failing by succeeding in China"

    The Google "control" of Android doesn't seem to be doing much to deter Chinese companies.

    --
    This Space Intentionally Left Blank
  3. Open Handset Alliance by Enderandrew · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not entirely true. Google initially created Android and released it as open source. But Android today is governed by the Open Handset Alliance. Several companies (including hardware ones) have a say in Android development, not just Google.

    http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
  4. Re:Chinese OS? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well you have to install someone's OS. And right now Google is probably the most trustworthy company on the planet.

    Ding! I can trust Apple, Microsoft, or Google. Google's offering is based on Linux and much of it is Open Source. The parts that aren't Open Source tell you that they're spying on you, and are optional. Does it, in fact, get any better than this?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"