Samsung Concerned Over Google's Bullying -- Rift Widens

Teaser quote, it wets the appetite to read on --

After Page outlined his vision for the future of Google, Lessin added that "privately, executives were quick to call the company a 'bully' and to plot ways to counter Google's growing power."

Tizen. It's something we've talked about here, and something that most scoffed at. Tizen is an operating system that would be largely controlled by Samsung in the way Apple controls iOS. (Samsung has flattered Apple on so many occasions it's become quite the embarrassment for any educated observer)

Think about Samsung's mission with Tizen. What a ridiculous notion, that a company with wealth, power, privilege, and resources like Samsung would attempt to differentiate their products from those of their competition. Samsung understands that android is no longer special. So why not employ some of those resources to make something different?

Google does not approve of Samsung using android as an open platform. (The breakdown of this pay to view article -- for those of who you do not pay -- is shared by AppleInsider)

Reports of contention between Google and Samsung are not new, but increasing hostility between the two companies were clearly evident at the recent Allen & Co. meeting of tech and media industry luminaries recently held in Sun Valley, according to a report by The Information written by Jessica Lessin.

In particular, the report described a "tense private meeting" at the event between Google's chief executive Larry Page and Samsung vice chairman Jay Y. Lee. The meeting involved Samsung's smartwatch strategy, which is currently focused primarily on Tizen and a heavily customized Android fork, rather than Google's official Android Wear.

"Right before Samsung launched its first Gear watch last fall," Lessin wrote, "Google objected to how it planned to brand the device, since it was running a very heavily modified version of Android, according to people familiar with the matter. Google had wanted Samsung to wait to release the Gear until its new version of Android for wearables, Android Wear, was ready. But Samsung pushed ahead."Credit AppleInsider

This is nothing new. But now it's uglier than before, and Google is doing quite a bit more bullying than before, and Samsung is less cooperative than ever. Want to know why?

At the beginning of this year, Google's head of Android Sundar Pichai demanded Samsung drop its new "Magazine UX" tablet interface, with The Information later reporting that Pichai was "prepared to forbid" Samsung from using Google's ostensibly open Android operating system unless Samsung surrendered more control to Google.

There's more in that AppleInsider article that most people either have never read and understood or have chosen to ignore. It's damning stuff.

I don't know what Google is expecting companies to do. They failed spectacularly to produce compelling android hardware of their own (to the tune of multiple BILLIONS of dollars) and are now expecting everyone else, regardless of who is making it, to bow to their whim so that they have a snowball's chance in hell of creating an android ecosystem that holds even the slightest party light candle to that of Apple's magnanimous, increasingly succinct ecosystem.

Google's Apple flattering attempt to create an advertising portal through which they can make money off of people willing to purchase devices powered by that very software is in trouble, and I'm certain they know it.

No it isn't. Tizen is Open Source(most of it anyway) as Android is, developed jointly between Samsung, Intel, The Linux Foundation and The Tizen Association(comprised of OEM's).

Think about Samsung's mission with Tizen. What a ridiculous notion, that a company with wealth, power, privilege, and resources like Samsung would attempt to differentiate their products from those of their competition. Samsung understands that android is no longer special. So why not employ some of those resources to make something different?

This however is an actual legitimate point. Competition should be encouraged, it's the spirit of the software. Plus Tizen is receiving actual support from the people maintaining Linux itself, AND unlike Android, is using a backend in C/C++ similar to Microsoft and Apple using their C superset languages. The result can only be a smooth, optimized android competitor due to the dumping of Java(Plus no more legal headaches from Oracle).

Android has promised "smooth performance" for years on end and have done so once again with ART(remember project butter?). I'm tired of waiting, I want results. Tizen looks to deliver them, at least as soon as Samsung can actually start getting the damn system out.

Wouldn;t it make more sense to fork the Android, like Amazon did, instead of going with Tizen? I don't see Tizen ever succeeding outside of Asia.

@AdrianWerner: I tend to agree with this point of view, and am skeptical of Samsung's ability to succeed even in Asia.

@musicalmac: Or how about Samsung finally cave in and make the Samsung ATIV line high end Windows Phones and actually advertise them? Tizen will take a long time to gain support and apps, not to mention that the Android Market share is huge and hard to dent it with a new OS. Not to mention that Amazon's pseudo Android Power OS is kind of a let down in pathetic shares.

@FireEmblem_Man: You're spot on everywhere. I can't see Tizen being a success. At this point, if Samsung wants to differentiate itself, it'll have more luck just doing for Microsoft what it did for Google, which was single-handedly legitimize an entire operating system. That being said, with slipping sales and an almost exclusively low-end clientele, I'm not sure Samsung is someone you want on your side, anyway.

Hmmm... True, but Samsung has gained a lot of brand recognition though. The one thing that they need to be careful of is making the same mistakes Sony did in the 90's believing that they finally ruled the world only ending up losing a ton of money and lose consumer interests.

Samsung is a terrible company and after owning my Samsung Galaxy S3 I had enough.

Stock Android or bust. Tizen is going to be a flop and Samsung has progressively gone from being one of the best Android OEMs to easily the worst.

Off-topic, did you just made a new account?

@FireEmblem_Man: I lost Haziqonfire. I couldn't login one day, don't know what happened. I contacted support, nothing, so I just made a new one.