Google squelches Sprint Android exec's critique

Looks like Sprint Android lead Jake Orion didn't really mean it when he said the Google Android team needed to "address industry fundamentals pragmatically" in a recent interview published--and then retracted--on the AndroidGuys site.

In the original article, Orion said those pragmatics include the need for:

"more proactive and direct linkage to the carrier’s network and service requirements. Also, a more stable development and testability process -particularly during the time critical carrier test and debug phase.

In summary, making quality handsets requires more than just engineering prowess. Solutions need to astutely incorporate the market dependencies and the associated operational processes. If Google learns this and stays committed to the business, Android is in the running to be the majority player. It is that big of threat in the mobile arena."

He also said he didn't think the Android OS was anything special compared with other OSes currently in the market and that its true promise is probably 5 years down the road:

"(1) Android has stiff, astute competition that is reacting to its plan (2) Android isn’t providing unknown magic other OSes are quantum leaps behind on. In many cases their competition is ahead. (3) Android’s strength as an internet-centric device is wildly exciting, however, mobile devices that render the internet experience like that of a desktop are going to be higher-end devices for the foreseeable future (5+ years). This is due to a myriad of technical and business reasons."

But of course, he then retracted all that. While Google is not so good at stopping insiders before they sound off, they're pretty good at getting those same insiders to erase their tracks afterward (another example would be the recent Andrew Fogg flap over offline Gmail and Calendar). Still they're not that good. As David Meyer at ZDNEt.co.uk notes, the original AndroidGuys article is still available via Google cache.