Last week a story hit the wire that Google threatened Acer not to launch a smartphone with Aliyun, a mobile operating system developed by Chinese Internet firm Alibaba.
Over the weekend more details hit the web about why Google is trying to block this Chinese operating system. Aliyun reportedly uses the Android runtime, framework and tools, but is not part of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) and is basically an incompatible clone. The OHA forbids its members from shipping incompatible Android implementations, and therefore Google forbade Acer from shipping an Aliyun-based phone in China. Acer is free to do so if it leaves OHA, but that doesn't seem like a smart choice because it would prevent the company from making Android-compatible phones.
Google's Android boss Andy Rubin states on his Google+ page that "if you want to benefit from the Android ecosystem, then make the choice to be compatible. It's easy, free and we'll even help you it. But if you don't want to be compatible, then don't expect help from OHA members that are all working to support and build a unified Android ecosystem."
Additionally, another thing that upsets Google is that the Aliyun app store contains unauthorized copies of Google Apps, as well as pirated versions of popular Android apps.
