Waiting for the (Gingerbread) man

Yesterday saw the official announcement of Google Android's new version, 2.3, named Gingerbread. (As an aside, am I the only person who doesn't understand how 'Frozen Yoghurt' fits into a series of names based on cakes?)

The announcement of a new version of Android itself triggers a series of announcements by handset manufacturers which can be summed up in the old tryptic 'snog, marry, avoid'. Either the new OS will be available immediately (usually only applies to brand new handsets going to market), the manufacturer will be working on bringing the new OS to the handset you already own, or that they won't. That last category is as good as saying 'get a new phone, sucker'.

It's the 'marry' category that is most frustrating for handset owners who care about such things (and I do acknowledge that I might be party of an albeit growing geek minority here). I'm current using a Samsung Galaxy S, a wonderful device but one that took around six months to get the most recent Android update. Before that the HTC Hero that I was using had a similar delay to get itso last update.

Why the delays? Well, it's because handset manufacturers and network operators want to differentiate themselves from their competition, and so add layers of functionality to the base, 'open' OS. In HTC's case this is adding the Sense interface, which seems hellbound on making every HTC phone look identical irrespective of the underlying OS; in Samsung's case, it's their hellbound desire to make everything look like an iPhone.

It reminds me of conversations I would have with Java application server manufacturers in the early noughties…

"Is your server standards compliant?"

"Absolutely."

"Why should I buy yours over someone else's?"

"Ours has lots of extra features."

"Standards-based features?"

"Erm. No."

However, although this upgrade waiting game is frustrating for the end consumer, it's better than the alternative because it leads to more innovation.

There was some discussion at the recent Web 2.0 Summit about how the practice of a single manufacturer producing both hardware and the software to run it was stuff of the 1960s. In that regard, Apple are a very old-fashioned company.

There was also discussion that the big tech companies now are only able to innovate through acquisition. For example, Google's last big in-house new thing was Gmail, and everything they have done of significance since was through buying not creating (including Android).

The advantage to innovation that is borne of the sort-of-open model that Android promotes is that there are just a while bunch more people who might either license a tech start-up's products, or buy them outright. For example, I'm typing this using Swype, which is a great keyboard app for Android that Samsung have bundled into their build for the Galaxy S. Those opportunities would be fast more scarce in a closed infrastructure world alone.

Does that make the waiting any easier? Probably not. But I am a bit of a geek who, as it was pointed out yesterday, is happy using language like 'I wonder how long it will take for Gingerbread to be ported to my Galaxy?'…