How Google Plans to Stem Android OS Fragmentation; Get Everyone On the Same Page

So Engadget has an interesting theory based on some off the record comments they got at CTIA from “people whose words carry weight” about how Google will help to fix the huge segregation caused by releasing too many versions of Android faster than manufacturers can keep up with their updates.

They believe that Android’s standard apps and components (like all their apps, input methods, etc.) will no longer be bundled with the OS itself. Instead they will be downloadable from the Android Market. This way whenever a new app comes out as part of an OS update (or by itself, as they will probably start to do now, since with this distribution method they don’t have to finish the OS update to release a new browser, etc.) users across the board will be able to download it themselves through the Market without having to wait for their specific carrier to release it.

The issue with this is that it isn’t just the apps people care about, its the framework to run certain 3rd party apps (certain ones work for 1.6, not 2.1 yet, or 2.1 and no longer 1.6) and its the UI feel (new launcher, built in voice search, APIs for devs to use, etc.). So unless these things can be downloaded through the Market as “components” Engadget mentioned earlier, then it’s a step in the right direction, but not the full solution.

Another thing Engadget mentions is the simple fact that Google is planning to stop releasing updates as quickly as they have been once they release Flan, the next OS update. And while that will give Manufacturer’s time to catch up and release 2.1 in he meantime (it’s been five months since Eclair was released), it also has the effect of hardcore users losing a little excitement about Android since it isn’t progressing as it used to.

We’ll have to wait and see what’s Google’s next move is. Engadget and I both agree though, 5 months is a long time in Android/Google terms, we should expect something new soon, no?

What do you guys think? How can Google fix this short of bypassing carriers and manufacturers (like the Nexus One does)?

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