[Terpfen]

That's nice thing #286 about Android. Being an open source OS, there are more than one hardware vendor that supports it and you can go to any carrier.

Which isn't actually much of an advantage, since it just means you've got to decide between unequal feature sets. Dirty secret about most Android phones: since Google allows extensive alteration of the core OS, updates are held hostage by carrier-manufacturer cooperation. Both have to get on the same page to issue an update, even basic security patches.

Right now, Android updates are overwhelmingly distributed not by downloading the new version to currently-in-use phones, but by sales of new phones with the updates pre-loaded. Most people actually are still using the same version of Android their phone came with.

Competition is good, but Android seems to shoot itself in the foot more often than it aims the gun at Apple.

[markomalley]

First, any carrier is going to customize any feature set of any phone to work with the carrier network, not just Android

Second, any OS kernel must be customized to work with the instruction set of the phone’s CPU.

Third, I’ve gotten major OS upgrades pushed to my non rooted phone. And Android allows the user to root his phone without breaking it for those who don’t want to wait on their carrier. I understand Jobs will brick rooted iPhones.