Samsung should be shivering in its pants if Google’s Android Silver which will ditch Nexus devices for premium handsets isn’t just a rumor. This goes hand in hand with an earlier report which actually leaked internal documents talking about the new OS, an attempt by Google to pull the rug from under Samsung which hasn’t been secretive about wanting to back away from Android.
Manufacturers forking Android hasn’t been working out well for Google either since the company loses revenue from Play Store when customized OS versions like the one the Nokia X runs, force users to download apps from other sources. What’s more, Mountain View has always wanted its OS to provide a unified experience to people the way Apple iOS does and various brands tinkering with the software to suit their needs does not help at all.
Hence the alleged birth of Android Silver, the bullet that will pierce right through Samsung’s heart considering that the brand is ruling the roost when its comes to smartphones based on Google’s mobile OS. The upcoming OS will apparently serve top-end devices only, with marketing costs heavily subsidized via advertising spend by the maker so that hardware partners won’t need too much convincing to jump in.
The Verge cites a post on The Information which says that Google has set aside an initial budget of $1 billion in order coax brands into signing up and Motorola as well as LG are supposedly ready to do so. In exchange for the support, Google will get to tightly control how much unnecessary third-party software is being fed to Android Silver handsets and also ensure that these extra apps or bloatware can be uninstalled by users.
The image above is a slide by Google talking about the Android Silver OS, which Android Police was kind enough to post. What will Samsung’s next move be?