In the absence of other Googly answers beyond those offered by Mr. Guy, here's my take. Bear in mind that I am not a Googler (nor do I play one on TV), but I've been in the Android arena for a while, have had many a conversation with major device manufacturers, etc.
Peter Eastman wrote: > What is the roadmap for Android? The official one at > http://source.android.com/roadmap > is way out of date (the last section on it is "Beyond Q1 2009"), and > I've been completely unable to find any other information about > current development. What features are being added right now? When > are they expected to be available? Historically, Google has not announced features in advance of the actual SDK release, and SDK release timeframes are not announced. They show up when they show up, usually with limited warning before devices start shipping with the release in question. I sincerely hope that the examples set by Apple, Microsoft, Symbian, et. al. will convince Google to reconsider this approach. > Along the same lines, what is the governance model for the Android > project? Google controls the central public repo and private repos and does a substantial amount of development in-house. Contributions come mostly from device manufacturers and other partners (e.g., OHA members) and occasionally from the community. The community is limited in its ability to contribute back due to lag time in updates being pushed to the public repo, the fact that development has steamrolled along on the private repos during that lag time, and sometimes due to strategic mismatch (e.g., contributing a nice feature with a security-flawed implementation ain't gonna get you far). > How do decisions get made about what features to add? Who makes them? Google decides, with very strong input from major device manufacturers, particularly for hardware-related matters. For example, the next Android SDK may have support for multiple cameras, because HTC and Sprint have a device (Evo 4G) coming up with multiple cameras, as does Dell (Streak). Sprint has even hinted that there will be API changes for multiple cameras, plus at least preliminary API support for WiMAX. Right now, I am unaware of any major smartphone OS that has much in the way of structured community input on features. The new Symbian shows promise (though there are no devices running it just yet), and Meego may have it as well (depending on whether it winds up being "major" and "smartphone" after the Maemo/Moblin merger). I remain hopeful that, someday, Android will get a bit more organized and open on this front. The hiring of people like Tim Bray may help. > Who should I talk to if I have suggestions for changes? You are welcome to file an issue on the public issue tracker: http://b.android.com. On the plus side, it's structured and monitored. On the minus side, there's a lot of issues in it, many of them open, and it's not designed for discussion about the suggestions. Or, you can post your suggestions here, if you're more interested in discussion, perhaps leading to issue tracker entries after you get feedback here. However, this isn't a great place for long-term tracking. There are plenty of other blogs and community sites and such as well, though they may not be monitored by the core Android team. Again, I am hopeful that, someday, there may be more possibilities here. > Is there a better way for me to provide input to the process? You can buy Palm, convert them into an Android shop, and join the OHA. I'll even contribute :: rummages through wallet :: $26.37 and a stick of gum towards the purchase price. I'm keeping the pocket lint, though. :-) Peter Eastman wrote: > Hi Romain, > > Since you work on the project, could you provide some insight into the > other questions? Bear in mind that most of the core Android team members that keep tabs on this list appear to have limited authority to discuss matters beyond basic technical ones. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://twitter.com/commonsguy Android Consulting: http://commonsware.com/consulting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en.
