Handset manufacturers don't care about Android. They care about sales and user selling points for their handsets. Does it matter that they released a handset with Android 1.5? No. Do they feel the need to release Android 2.1? No. Look at how long it is taking for HTC to come out with Android 2.1 for Hero and the rest. Again, each handset manufacturer is looking for differentiators. You have HTC Sense, Samsung Touchwiz, etc. which are hard to upgrade whenever Google releases a new version of Android.
Nobody wants to manufacture devices that look and feel the same. Since manufacturers seem to be rather disillusioned about the Android dream, everyone is fragmenting and coming up with their own operating systems instead of leaning of Google's solution which is still not on par with iPhone OS. You have Samsung's Bada, Nokia's Memo, etc. coming up and being pushed heavily. Then there is talk of an "App Store" for the rest of the world that doesn't use an iPhone. Good luck with that and with compatibility issues.
Being jealous of the iPhone isn't a recipe for success. The big handset manufacturers are like dinosaurs trying to deal with empowered consumers demanding more. Do you recall the sorry state of affairs in the smart phone industry before Apple released the iPhone?
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Nobody wants to manufacture devices that look and feel the same. Since manufacturers seem to be rather disillusioned about the Android dream, everyone is fragmenting and coming up with their own operating systems instead of leaning of Google's solution which is still not on par with iPhone OS. You have Samsung's Bada, Nokia's Memo, etc. coming up and being pushed heavily. Then there is talk of an "App Store" for the rest of the world that doesn't use an iPhone. Good luck with that and with compatibility issues.
Being jealous of the iPhone isn't a recipe for success. The big handset manufacturers are like dinosaurs trying to deal with empowered consumers demanding more. Do you recall the sorry state of affairs in the smart phone industry before Apple released the iPhone?