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Comment by ozten | Hacker News Reader

If only there was a free, completely open source browser with more than 4.5 stars in the Google Play store which could be bundled without any business deals...

Bonus points for a cool project codename like Fennec.

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Firefox for Android hasn't been called Fennec for a long time :)

They said "codename", to be fair.

Well, I'd say one advantage of the "store" model is that you don't need a browser to download a new browser (well, in the back it probably has a lot of Webviews, still)

I think I'm going to make a bet against myself. I have a feeling that in 2-3 years' time the play store app will be phased out and integrated with Chrome.

From thereon, if a vendor wants to call their device an Android[tm], they'll have no choice but to ship a browser they no longer control in order to have access to Android app arketplace. I'm not sure if this is laying groundwork for a pre-emptive strike against competing marketplaces or just an attempt to unify the browser experience for all future Androids.

Could be both. They are not mutually exclusive.

ChromeOS on Android on Linux?

If only there wasn't an agreement prohibiting such replacements.

Bonus points for calling it the "Open" Handset Alliance agreement.

http://www.theverge.com/2011/05/12/google-android-skyhook-la...

Then don't sign the agreement? You can still use Android on your products.

That doesn't help companies like Skyhook(and Mozilla if Firefox too is banned by the agreement) because almost all OEMs are current members who are bound to the agreement:

HTC

Sony

Samsung Electronics

ASUSTek

Garmin

Huawei Technologies

Sony Mobile Communications (joined as Sony Ericsson)

Toshiba

Acer

ZTE Corporation

Alcatel Mobile Phones

Compal Communications

Dell

Foxconn

Haier

Kyocera

Lenovo Mobile Communication Technology Ltd.

NEC

Sharp Corporation

Saygus Corporation

Care to guess the marketshare of Android handsets not shipped by one of the above?

More and more things are being moved into Google Apps with each Android release. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-...

Anyway, I don't begrudge Google doing this, I only have an issue with the bastardization of the word "open". AOSP and Android are very different, and when people say Android is open, they actually mean AOSP is open, since Android as shipped on devices is very different and contains a lot of proprietary things.

It works! The lack of an agreement between Amazon and Google has yet to be a hindrance on my new Kindle Fire. All but one of the apps I wanted is in Amazon's store, and that one app was available as an .apk.

please stop spreading this as though it were fact. The OHA terms don't prevent you from shipping an alternative browser. They could if google wanted to, but they currently don't.

And the only carrot has to enforce compliance with the OHA is the google apps suite including chrome. If you don't want chrome and the other google apps, you don't have to comply with their compatibility tests.

>If only there wasn't an agreement prohibiting such replacements.

Exactly what agreement?

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