It's 2012 and Ice Cream Sandwich is set to bring Android phones and tablets in line but apparently we're still banging on about Android being fragmented - and it looks like Google chairman Eric Schmidt is getting a bit bored with it too.
Although devices running the OS will gradually fall into line as they either become obsolete or upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, some people are still complaining that the software doesn't act and look exactly the same on every device.
"Differentiation is positive, fragmentation is negative," said Schmidt, speaking at CES 2012.
"Differentiation means that you have a choice and the people who are making the phones, they're going to compete on their view of innovation, and they're going to try and convince you that theirs is better than somebody else."
Hot air
"It's not required that everyone use the same interface," Schmidt continued. "People are free to make the necessary changes. What's great is if you don't like it, you can buy the phone from someone else.
"What people really care about is that there's an interoperable ecosystem of apps," he added, saying that Google won't be taking a leaf out of Apple's book by cracking down on its approvals process.
When it comes to whether Apple or Android will win out, Schmidt took the classy line of both: "I think both models will do well for a while because it's such a large market."
From PC Mag
