Will fragmentation of Android harm the software platform?

It's no secret that Google has big plans for the mobile industry, as they have gone on record as saying that see the mobile phone as more important than the desktop PC, and as such, that is where their focus lies. However, they face a potential problem with their mobile operating system, as Engadget columnist Michael Gartenberg has pointed out, in that the Android platform runs the risk of fragmentation, which will weaken it in the market.

Before drawing any conclusions, it's worth reminding ourselves exactly what fragmentation is, when it comes to software products. Essentially, excessive fragmentation has been something that Windows Mobile developers and users have spoken about for a long time. With different versions of the software platform in the market, the platform as a whole becomes 'fragmented', with different devices running different software versions.

Microsoft themselves stated that this is something they want to consciously avoid with Windows Phone 7 Series, which is why they have decided to block third-party interfaces from running, and why they have laid out a set of minimum system requirements (including standard screen resolutions), to ensure that the platform remains consistent across devices. The same approach is taken by Apple, albeit in a slightly different way, as they don't let other devices use the iPhone OS, and by doing so, they again ensure consistency between the different incarnations of the iPhone.

With Android, however, there is no such control over the interface, the experience, or the hardware infrastructure, and as such, according to Gartenberg, fragmentation is a serious threat to Google's mobile platform. The example he uses is of recently trying to install a game onto the Nexus One, ostensibly the most advanced and powerful Android phone on the market. However, that game wouldn't work, because the Nexus One has a non-standard screen resolution.

A similar problem can be found with the mobile version of Google Earth, designed to run on Android 2.1. This leads to the unusual situation where the Motorola Droid, also one of the most advanced Android phones on the market, and a phone that was only released within the last 3 months, can't run Google Earth because it uses Android 2.0.

The problem is compounded by the exceptionally fast rate of Android development within Google itself, with development from version 1.5 to version 2.1 taking less than a year. This means that there are still version 1.5 handsets on the market, and in fact, new devices are still being announced that use that earlier version. Because of that, they won't get core features of Android 2.1, such as Google Maps Navigation, despite being launched and released after the Nexus One.

The situation is also detrimental to software developers, as the wide range of different software versions on the market makes it hard to lock down specific features without running the risk of denying users with earlier software versions (who, it should be noted, are still well within their monthly contract, and not ready to upgrade the phone yet) the ability to use the apps those developers are creating.

It remains to be seen whether this will adversely affect the Android ecosystem (as it did with the Linux platform, which became fragmented, and thus, failed to take significant market share from Windows), but the mere fact that both Microsoft and Apple are actively working to prevent software fragmentation within their platforms is worth noting. It's too early to say that fragmentation definitely will destroy the Android platform, which is what Gartenberg suggests, but in the long run, it is a challenge for Google, and if they don't address it, it may end up coming back to haunt them.