For a famously open-source platform, this decision was startling to many in the field; however, the situation isn’t as dire as it seems at the outset. For one thing, any tablet manufacturer or dev can get their hands on the code; all they have to do is ask.
As a Google rep told us in an email, the Honeycomb OS was designed for the larger form factor that goes along with tablet devices; it definitely wasn’t intended for use on phones. And Honeycomb includes new features and improvements to existing features such as multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization.
The rep stated, “While we’re excited to offer these new features to Android tablets, we have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones. Until then, we’ve decided not to release Honeycomb to open source.”
“We’re committed to providing Android as an open platform across many device types and will publish the source as soon as it’s ready.”
In other words, this doesn’t signal a fundamental shift in everything that Android stands for; after all, the open-source mantra has been such a fundamental part of the platform’s PR that killing off that aspect of the technology would amount to Google shooting itself in the foot.
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