Shift 2: Unleashed Review

When it comes to the racing genre you have two options. You can go with the racing simulators— the Forza and Gran Turismo series games— where you can lose hours of your life fiddling with gear differentials, weight distribution and thousands of other things that most of us will never truly understand. Most importantly though is a realistic sense of physics in the actual driving. On the flip side of the coin are the arcade style racers, which drop you in places like Burnout’s Paradise City, or Midnight Club’s Los Angeles and command you to go forth and race while trying not to hit a building at 200 mph. Both are racing games, but there is a massive gap between the two genres. Shift 2: Unleashed is a game that tries to fill this gap, and does a fairly decent job of it.
Shift 2: Unleashed is the heir to the Need for Speed series that has reinvented itself, and changed from the arcade style that had you running form cops through all environments, to a more simulated racer; but the vestigial traces of the original series remain, and in doing so they offer something that is a bit unique.
Shift 2 is a racing simulator in the sense that it is all track based and where the cars are unbelievably customizable; but the racing is what sets it apart. While there is a sense of realistic physics at work, the game has an arcade feel to it that bends those physics. You can hit a corner at high speed and drift around the bend, when in reality you would probably hit the wall and explode. It may not be absolutely realistic in that sense, but it works, and makes a racing game that combines the simulator and arcade style with an exceptional balance that makes it just plain fun to play.

The Garage is Small, but Well Stocked

Shift 2 features exactly what you might expect a racing sim to offer. You have a career mode which unlocks features as you earn experience with cash to buy new cars. Also, as you progress, you earn the right to race with different classes of cars-like muscle cars and eventually F1 supercars. As you progress through the 36 different maps, you can also tune your car via an incredible amount of options.
An online mode is also available, and “lobbies” offer races of all classes and styles. You can race in ranked and unranked matches, as well as head-to-head in a “Driver Duel” against another person with a similar rank. In these races you race a best of three series, and the winner receives cash, experience and a crown. The more crowns you earn the better your rank.
One interesting feature that fans of the series will love is that if you have played the previous games in the Need for Speed series, your game will recognize that and award you with additional experience, cash, and a few other perks. It isn’t anything that you can’t unlock on your own so new fans aren’t missing anything, but it is a nice touch to reward fan loyalty. If you haven’t played the series before, and if you don’t have the patience to unlock your cars through progression, there is also the option to buy cars using Microsoft points. Some people might call this a cash grab, but it really is an interesting option for people. It adds to the game, and while most purists will sneer at it, it won’t affect their game in any way. Alternatively, it might make casual fans more into the game.

The Drip Beneath the Car

While Shift 2 does play very well, there are a few things that prevent it from stealing the crown from the Forza or Gran Turismo series. There is nothing that makes this game anything less than awesome, but there are a few things that hold the series back.
First is the limited number of cars. The selection of the cars is fairly robust, with 145 cars from 37 manufacturers. From a Ford Focus to a Bugati Veyron, the selections are fairly impressive. Shift 2 doesn’t have the sheer number of choices that some of the other games, like Gran Turismo 5’s 1000+ cars, but honestly will anyone miss a VW Jetta or a Kia Spectra when you can use a BMW or an Audi from the start? There are plenty of options.
While the car selection is solid albeit unimpressive, the customization options for the cars run so deep that you can use every car thousands of times and it would be slightly different each time. While the number of options is incredible, it can also be incredibly overwhelming. Unless you are a gearhead—and not just a “Hey, I watch Top Gear” gearhead, but a gearhead in the sense that you can read on the screen that you are adding a new gear box and you will instantly understand what that will do to the car without the benefit of pages of stats—then you might have some troubles.
The customization menu is huge, but it offers little to no help. Granted, in the real world when you customize a car, adding new suspension or tires makes a notable difference, but in a video game it is harder to tell. This makes it tough to know exactly what you are doing—unless you actually know exactly what you are doing. Most gamers have the tendency to just go for more of everything, which isn’t always the best option. It is about balance, a rule Gran Turismo taught us years ago, but Shifted 2 makes it oddly tough to find that balance. Average gamers—especially ones used to the more arcade like upgrades of the old Need for Speed series—are going to face a ton of trial and error, and most are likely to do only the most obvious changes to their rides.
The graphics are also good, but not amazing, and that is something of a theme for this title. The lighting effects in particular are exceptional, and the interior view is well rendered, but some of the cars look cartoonish, and there is an inconsistency that stands out.  There is also a series of videos to introduce segments, and they can quickly become annoying.
What Shift 2 has is well done, but it doesn’t offer anything surprising or impressive, with the possible exception of the gameplay (which granted, is a good thing to excel at). You get exactly what you would expect, and no more. There are no neat channels to watch racing videos on, nor are there go-kart challenges. You won’t find a personalized racing calendar, or off track events. You have tracks, you race them, you buy new cars—that’s it. Even the online—while fun—is somewhat barebones and there is a distinct sense that building a community was a low priority. That may all sound like nitpicking, but when you are trying to break into a field dominated by giants like Gran Turismo and Forza, you have to at least try to offer something that the other don’t. Everything in Shift 2 can be found in other games, and while the limits of the options won’t hurt the actual playability, which is great, it will likely stunt the game’s lifespan.

The AI Hates “Days of Thunder”

Most of us were raised with the idea that “rubbin’ is racin’”. While this quote comes from the film Days of Thunder, the idea comes from the more primal idea that if a car is in your way, and there are no consequences to annihilating him, then it is fine to introduce him to a wall at high speeds. Shift 2 disagrees.
To encourage you to race properly, and to give the game a bit more value during the races, if you slam into a car, it will remember. More than that, it will swear a vendetta against you, and make it its primary purpose in life to utterly destroy you. A nudge here and there might get you an aggressive bump in return, but a reckless slide into the side of a rival will have them seeing red, and you will spend the rest of the race nervously watching your rear view mirror for an angry blur that wants your (digital) blood.
In this, the AI in Shift 2 is amazing. They are not an easy set of racers to crush, they are responsive and adaptive, and you need to bring you’re A-game to finish in first. One of the more clever ideas in the game is that when you first begin, you race a few challenges, and the results determine your level of difficulty and car settings. As you progress so does the difficulty, and it is a nice touch to have the game adapt to you.
But regardless of whether or not you are in the easy or hard difficulties, the races are not going to be handed to you—you need to beat your opponents. They will test you, and force you to drive almost perfect races—not perfect in the sense that you have to hit every corner perfectly, just in the sense that if you hit a wall–even if you don’t wreck–you may as well start over if you are determined to win. Sometimes this is logical. If you are in a tough race and mess up, you will naturally be overtaken. But other times you can have a big lead and not even see the next car in your rear view, then you take a turn too harshly and slow down off the track, and you will almost magically find yourself in last place.
The AI has moments where it is brilliant, but it also has moments where it is very, very bad. You might be in a dogfight with the top 2 cars, while the others are 5-10 seconds behind—then suddenly they will all have made up an improbable gap, regardless of how well you are driving, and you will be surrounded. It doesn’t usually make a difference to how you race, but it is noticeable.
Still, the pros of the AI outweigh the cons, and they make the races challenging and fun.

Conclusion

Shift 2 does exactly what it sets out to do. Developer Slightly Mad Studios has created a racing game that takes the customization options of a true racing sim, and combines it with a touch of arcade style racing to give us something that falls between the two. The results are a game that is just plain fun.
The AI is a bit unbalanced at times, but when it works it works brilliantly. The graphics aren’t the best, but they are better than many, and while the career mode is relatively short—at least compared to other games of the genre–it is varied enough to keep the races feeling fresh. The biggest issue though is that there isn’t anything new. What there is, is great, but there isn’t anything that will surprise you.
Still, faults and all, racing fans won’t regret giving this game a try, and the arcade pedigree should offer a bit of appeal to gamers everywhere. It may not have the depth to satisfy hardcore fans for too long, but Shift 2 has the gameplay to have them smiling while they try.

 

 

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The rumor that won’t die: Google has a mole at Twitter

It's a little outlandish to this Google has a spy infiltrating Twitter, but here's our take on the Google-Twitter fiasco.

This is one we tried to ignore for as long as possible, but it just won’t quite go away. Yesterday, TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington lodged a major claim that Google had a mole working at Twitter. According to Arrington, “Multiple sources close to Twitter have said that someone with access to Twitter’s most confidential information, such as who they are interviewing for key executive spots, may be leaking that information directly to Google.”
This comes after Google reportedly shelled out millions to retain two high level executives that were being recruited by Twitter. Apparently, Google was able to best Twitter’s offer before one of the employees even admitted he was considering the move to the microblogging company, which supposedly lends credibility to the idea of a Google spy working at Twitter.
If the story ended there, it wouldn’t be worth repeating, but it’s struck a chord with Silicon Valley and now, names are being named. Business Insider suggests that the most likely suspect is Kleiner Perkins associate, John Doerr, who is now being scrutinized as the alleged mole. Doerr is a well-known social media investor, and has stakes in sites like Twitter, Groupon, and Zynga. He is also serves on the board of directors for Google and has been a “board observer” at a recent Twitter board meeting.
So while there may be something of a conflict of interest in Doerr’s case, that doesn’t necessarily mean he leaked any confidential information to Google that he shouldn’t have. What’s become more intriguing in this sordid tale is how much Google and Twitter are pitting against each other: Twitter seems supremely interested in poaching some very important pieces of the Google machine–most notably Sundar Pichai, crucial to the Chrome team, and Neal Mohan, another product manager. Google already has its hands full trying to come up with a successful social product, and is busy waging war against Facebook. Then, there is also the looming antitrust investigation, which may begin now that the DOJ’s investigation into Google’s purchase of ITA Software has concluded. If its thus far ill-executed social platform doesn’t land successfully and soon, it might get swallowed up by competitors (at least in that particular arena).

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Incomplete and overpriced: How Motorola doomed the Xoom

The obvious shortcomings of Motorola’s Xoom at launch have Rob Enderle wondering how Motorola managed to squander its good hype from CES and botch the Xoom.

This week the Deutsche Bank reported that the Xoom sold 100,000 units so far, which compares to the iPad’s initial weekend sales of 300,000 very badly. Current estimates indicate there are 20 million iPads in the market, which suggests the Xoom failed. Recall that the Samsung Galaxy tablet sold an estimated 250,000 units in the hot fourth quarter of last year, a small fraction of the iPads sold. You might conclude that Android just can’t compete. Let’s explore this.

Crippled from the start

When Apple products come to market, they are complete. They have a full set of included applications that make them useful, and the key parts that folks are looking for are in them. They also come out at premium prices, which typically set the most you can charge for a similar product. The smart play, if you are a competitor, is to build a product that is differentiated from the Apple offering, but still contains the core capabilities at a lower price and then market it strongly. That isn’t what Motorola did, and it may have effectively killed the Xoom.

The Xoom’s failure

There has been an assumption that the Xoom cost substantially more than the iPad to build, which is why Motorola priced it initially well above the iPad. However, I just saw recent analysis that said it only cost $26 more, making Motorola’s overprice strategy even more difficult to understand. Apple sets the premium price point. You can’t successfully price above Apple unless you have something that is substantially better, and the Xoom wasn’t.
In addition, the Xoom launched without its two key differentiators: 4G and Flash support. While Flash could be a later software upgrade, 4G support wasn’t, and early adopters were told that the product would need to be shipped back to Motorola for six days to be rebuilt. Granted, this was a free upgrade, but this would be like buying one car over another because it had a V8 engine, then being told it needed to go back into the shop in a few weeks to get that V8 engine. Even at value price, wouldn’t you wait until they actually finished the car, or in this case the Xoom, before buying it?
Even in marketing and sampling the product, Motorola screwed up. One key marketing application on the Xoom was a cool-looking game, but the device didn’t ship with that game. 
Another key hook was watching videos, but it didn’t come with a video application that worked out of the box, either. You had to get one yourself.

In short, Motorola was selling an incomplete “kit” tablet at a premium over the luxury product Apple dominated the market with. Going back to cars, this would be like coming to market with a car priced at more than a Lexus that the buyer has to finish himself and ship back to the factory for additional construction at some future point.
I’m actually kind of surprised Motorola even managed to sell 100,000 of these things. I’ve been told they had a 20-percent initial return rate, though, so a lot of folks that did buy seemed to understand they had made a huge mistake.

Is Android dead on tablets?

So far, yes. Android is part of the problem, because Android OEMs are all livid at Google for poor execution. However, Xoom was mostly the fault of Motorola for bringing a product to market that was incomplete and overpriced. Android phones are, in total, outselling Apple phones at the moment, which suggests they can be competitive (though with lawsuits surrounding Android, probably not profitable).
In the end, this is an execution problem that extends from Google through Motorola, and once again emphasizes that the Android ecosystem may be far sicker than it appears from Google’s phone numbers. Since Samsung’s tablet shipped with the phone version of Android and so wasn’t really complete either, we have yet to see a complete Android tablet in the market, and it is clear an incomplete overpriced product won’t sell.

Wrapping up: Are these folks idiots?

You really have to ask this question, because you would think that a 6-year-old could figure out that you can’t bring out incomplete products, price them over Apple products, and have any hope of being successful. If you aren’t going to play to win, what the hell is the point of even bothering to enter the competition? The Xoom was a huge waste of effort because Motorola and Google didn’t play to win. Samsung and now Motorola have both struck out batting against the iPad. RIM and HP are next up to the plate; let’s hope they learn from this and do a better job.
The Xoom had a huge amount of potential. It took home plenty of “Best of Show” titles at CES, but like the Palm Pre a few years ago, the executive team pissed this all away. Maybe some of these firms should have a “no more idiots” hiring policy at the executive staff level, because this is just pathetic.

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Spring brings splash of color to laptop aisles

Laptop manufacturers now elbow for eyes with bright colors and unique designs as they compete with the growing tablet market, and each other.

Guest contributor Deron Kershaw is a market analyst for Gap Intelligence.
Roy G. Biv is about to make himself comfortable in the notebook section at your local retailer. Manufacturers are preparing to deviate from the standard black and grey color schemes and will soon produce configurations in a variety of colors. As tablets are increasingly seen as the hippest new device on the block, PC manufacturers are being forced to compete for coolness, if only aesthetically.
For low-priced mini netbooks, color is the main appeal. Since the vast majority now feature the same 10.1-inch display, Atom processor, and 250GB hard drive, color has become the easiest way to differentiate between models. Consumers have begun treating netbooks as an accessory, rather than a computer. And what’s cooler than being able to match your netbook with your shoes? Here’s a rundown of the major PC manufacturers’ plans to make computing more colorful:

HP

In January, HP launched its Mini 210 netbook line that comes with a plaid pink casing with a fast 7200RPM hard drive, selling for $299 at Best Buy. HP’s low-priced Pavilion G-series is now available in a variety of colors and patterns, a departure from the drab silver designs found on most current G-series models. The new colors include Butter Gold, Luminous Rose, Sonoma Red, and Sweet Purple.

Acer

Just in time for Easter, new Aspire One “Happy” series netbooks have all the pastel colors covered including: Candy Pink, Lavender Purple, Lime Green, and Hawaii Blue.

Sony

The Vaio C notebook line radiates light (literally!) around the logo, touchpad, and the notebook’s edges. Neon orange and neon green versions is now available through Sony’s website and are expected to become available to the retail channel in the coming weeks.

Asus

Even some higher-performance laptops have experienced a splash of color. Asus continues to expand its bamboo-paneled U43F notebook line, launched last August, as a first for the industry. They look a bit like those classic old Woodie station wagons without surfboards. Asus has since released two additional configurations, the latest with a Core i5 CPU, 640GB hard drive, 6GB of RAM, and 8-cell battery for $779.

Dell

Dell has probably taken color customization the farthest. As of last week, Dell’s popular Inspiron R notebooks now come with the ability to swap out lids with over 25 different colors and designs. At the end of 2009, Dell partnered with nail-polish maker OPI to use their hues in casing colors, which brought about some of the worst names I’ve ever heard: “La Paz-itively Hot” (pink) and “I’m Not Really a Waitress” (red). Thankfully, Dell has gone back to more normal colors like Lotus Pink and Tomato Red for the popular Inspiron and Inspiron Mini lines, but even the standard options still have funky names like Mars Black.

Samsung

Samsung had a series of red notebooks and netbooks on shelves at Best Buy during the holiday shopping season. Now, the company’s new Sliding 7 Series hybrid netbooks, which will become available this month, look even sharper and some configurations feature a vibrant blue keyboard.

Lenovo

The new IdeaPad U260 line hit shelves last week with bold new color options including Clementine Orange and Mocha Brown. At CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, unreleased teal blue IdeaPads were also on display.

A rainbow of choices

It’s only natural to shop with our eyes, so luring consumers in with visuals is a smart marketing tactic. But how does a Peacock Blue laptop’s functionality measure up? Quite well, actually – Dell’s Inspiron 14R-1296 comes with more than just a cool blue casing. The line also sports WiMax connectivity and Intel’s Wireless Display technology, which allows you to stream content to your TV without any cables. For $599, it’s a great deal. But check your newspapers, HP’s refreshed Pavilion G series is launching with an array of new colors and is typically the best value for mainstream notebooks. HP has a knack for integrating color into the overall design of its notebooks (beyond just the casing) and the refreshed series should be no different.
The flood of color is reminiscent of what happened to the digital camera industry five years ago. In 2006, after years of pumping out black and silver cameras, manufacturers responded to consumers’ desire for personalization by offering proven series in pinks, blues, and reds. History has a funny way of repeating itself, and now it’s the laptop industry’s turn to show some personality. Maybe that plaid pink netbook really is for you?
About the author: Deron Kershaw is a market analyst for Gap Intelligence, a San Diego-based independent technology research firm with emphasis in helping product manufacturers and retailers understand current retail market trends in order to respond to customer demands as they occur. He can be reached at

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Sony confirms it will introduce tablet this year

Reports out of Japan say that Sony is on track to release a tablet in the very near future. Could it be the S1?

In February, just as anticipation over the Xperia Play’s existence and forthcoming release hit a fever pitch, rumors of a PlayStation-certified, Vaio-branded tablet cropped up. The original report included content plans and even early specs, including the fact that it would run Android 3.0 and join the small, elite cluster of Honeycomb tablets. Now, Sony CEO Howard Stringer has confirmed to Japanese publication Nikkei that the device will become a reality this summer.
Bloomberg first reported the confirmation this morning, which also revealed that the tablet (which early claims said is codenamed the S1) will hit US shelves first.
Of course, what about those S2 rumblings? Shortly after the S1 speculation began, there was also mention of a second project, the clamshell-shaped S2. The device (from early renderings and specs) takes an extremely non-traditional approach to tablets, and was even initially described as an “electronic book with enhanced features.” As you can see from the mockups, the S1 also puts a unique spin on the tablet, but at least keeps a more similar shape and size. This and the early look at its specs seem to point to the S1 for the first Sony tablet release. Early reports said that this could be by the end of summer, but since then has been amended to year’s end.
Sony’s been taking its good, sweet time entering the tablet wars. And being the major computing manufacturer it is, you had to imagine this was only a matter of time. The company has been investing ample time and money into product features, like its media platform Qriocity and its cross-platform gaming model PlayStation Suite – all of which Sony may be planning to solidify before it introduces a tablet based on this content.
Suffice it to say we’re excited to see what Sony can bring to the table. Here’s a quick refresher on the S1:

• Tegra 2 processor
• 9.4-inch touch display; 1,280 x 800 resolution
• Rear- and front-facing cameras
• USB-A port
• Built-in IR port
• Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
• (Relatively) button-free chassis; volume controls and (possibly) designated Qriocity button
• Wi-Fi only version rumored to cost $599 and ship in September

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Tickets for Apple’s WWDC selling for over $3,500 apiece on eBay

The iPad 2 isn't Apple's only hot item on eBay. Single tickets for June's WWDC are selling for double -- sometimes near triple -- their face value. 

The iPad 2 isn't Apple's only hot item on eBay. Single tickets for June's WWDC are selling for double -- sometimes near triple -- their face value.

Tickets to Apple’s upcoming World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) sold out in under 10 hours after going on sale on Monday. Now, some of those tickets are popping up on eBay. And they’re fetching premium prices — some going for well over double their $1,599 face value.
A search on eBay reveals one active auction for a single WWDC ticket with a current high bid of $3,951 (includes free shipping though!). EBay shows nine other active auctions with currents bids ranging from $1,225 to $3,450. Computerworld reported one ticket listed under eBay’s “Buy It Now” option with an asking price of $4,599. That ticket appears to have been sold or removed.
Apple’s 2011 WWDC will kick off on June 6 at San Francisco’s Moscone West convention center. Apple has promised to reveal “the future of iOS and Mac OS” during the five-day conference.  It’s expected Apple will announce iOS 5 during the conference en route to a fall release. Questions linger whether or not Apple will announce its next-generation iPhone as it has traditionally done at WWDCs in the past. Rumors have indicated the Apple may hold off on releasing the iPhone 5 until sometime during the fall.
It’s worth noting that the WWDC isn’t open to the general public. Ticket holders are required to be registered developers with Apple in order to activate their ticket.
Apple’s iPad 2 continues to be one of eBay’s hottest items, with selling prices routinely eclipsing the $1,000 mark

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Google is clamping down on Android, but is it going far enough

 

Google has begun enforcing much tighter restrictions on Android manufacturers to avoid further fragmentation of its operating system. But we think it could go even further

 

Times are changing for Android manufacturers. After taking heat for the increasing fragmentation between Android devices, Google has begun stepping up in 2011 and requiring manufacturers to start adhering to a stricter code of conduct. In response, “a dozen executives working at key companies in the Android ecosystem,” have been complaining to Business Week and the Justice Department 

 

Here’s what’s happening:

• Chip and device manufacturers that hope to use Google services and access the Android Market must comply with Google’s rules.
• Android licensees must now adhere to “non-fragmentation clauses,” meaning that modifications to Android handset hardware or user interface (HTC Sense, Motorola Blur, TouchWiz, etc) must be approved by Google’s Android guru, Andy Rubin. This includes monitoring and approval of new app partners for built-in software.
• Google has specifically asked to review tweaks and code from Facebook, which is creating its own Android UI for a Facebook phone of some kind.
• Google has tried to hold up the release of Verizon Android devices that use Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
• Google is playing favorites (more than before), delaying the open source release of Android Honeycomb, but letting choice manufacturers like Motorola, Samsung, and LG access so they can get a head start on the competition. As a result, out of the loop manufacturers like Acer and Dell are being pushed months behind the competition.
• Google may standardize Android on ARM chipsets, leaving Intel in the dust.

Is this right؟

Sometimes we forget that Google is a business. We want it to be this pure force for good and openness. While it may have had pure intentions with Android, manufacturers have been taking advantage of Google’s lax nature for the last three years. Unlike Windows and every other platform, Android has always been, and still is a free platform to use. Google gave all of the major manufacturers the ability to compete with Apple’s iPhone at a time when none of them could. This is why Android’s marketshare has sprung from single digits to more than 40 percent in the last year or so.

More control please

Unlike every other operating system, Google has also given handset manufacturers an unprecedented level of control to customize and modify Android, and they have, often to the detriment of the Android experience itself. It can be a very frustrating thing for a user if they buy an Android phone by HTC and learn how to do things one way, then buy a Motorola handset and can’t find many basic menus or functions that they got used to on their last phone.
PCs and Macs never had this problem, and with Windows Phone, Microsoft laid out strict (but fair) requirements on all handset manufacturers, requiring 100 percent compliance. While HTC has created an entire UI experience called Sense on top of Android, its Windows Phone devices are identical to all other manufacturers except for a single “HTC Hub” where their custom software can lie. Time will tell which model is better, but it’s clear that Google needed to do something. In fact, it may not be doing enough.
Here’s what Google should do:

• Require handset manufacturers using Google services to update their handsets in a timely fashion during their lifecycle (one to two years from release). Google releases a new version of Android every six months or so. To maintain a consistent experience, It is important that Google get as many handsets on the new version as possible. If manufacturers choose to modify Android, they must be able to update their custom UI within a few months and issue the update. Or perhaps make more parts of Android off limits, so that updates can occur without affecting custom UI.
• Get updates out of the hands of the carriers. We’ve been railing on Windows Phone for relying on carriers for updates but Android is no better. Somehow, Google needs to take control of Android updates. It’s bad enough that handset manufacturers are involved in Android updates, involving wireless carriers is just asking for trouble. Neither manufacturers or carriers have much incentive to issue updates. Even if it involves hooking my phone to a PC, there should be a way to get relevant updates when they are issued.
• Make the stock version of Android more attractive and with better features. It is hard work to make an operating system, but if Google took some time to ensure that the stock version of Android had the kind of flair HTC adds with its Sense UI, then all manufacturers would benefit. If there weren’t so many obvious ways to improve Android visually, perhaps manufacturers wouldn’t need to do so. Gingerbread and Honeycomb have been steps in the right direction, but there’s no reason why the standard version of Android can’t look as good as any custom version. Get cracking, Google.

Stop playing favorites

While I have defend some of Google’s actions, the company should take a cue from Microsoft and treat all major venders equally. It’s fine to keep creating new “Nexus” devices that show off the power of a new Android version, but it looks bad when partners like Motorola are allowed to release tablets and phones with new software months before the competition can even look at it. That’s not open, and it’s not good.
 

 

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