Ever since Google agreed to buy Motorola Mobility in 2011, there's been speculation as to what the purchase could mean for Motorola and the devices that it churns out. Many folks have hoped that it would result in completely stock Android devices from Moto, so far that hasn't been the case. Motorola SVP, Product Rick Osterloh recently touched on the whole Android skin situation and, as The Verge reports, it's unlikely that the customizations will be going away.
Osterloh explained that Motorola will be "as close to the base" as possible and will focus on fast upgrades in the future, because that's what users would like. However, the exec admitted that Moto will "have to do some customization" because that's what its partners want. Moto then works with the carrier involved with a particular phone and tries to find a happy medium, which results in the light overlay that we see on devices like the DROID RAZR M and RAZR HD/MAXX HD.
We heard a similar explanation of Android skins from former Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha earlier in 2012, who said that the carriers "don't want seven stock ICS devices on their shelves" and that most of the changes that Moto makes to Android are made in order to meet operator demands. It's not a total surprise to learn that Motorola will continue to use an overlay on its Android devices, especially given the pull that some carriers have with manufacturers. Still, it is nice to hear that Moto is trying to get as close as it can to vanilla Android, especially considering that it used to heavily skin devices with its custom MOTOBLUR UI. What do you all make of the customizations made by Motorola on the new DROID RAZRs? Is it light enough for you or do you demand straight-up stock Android?
Via The Verge
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