Android updates have to pass Google’s review teams? That sounds App Store-ish!

Today, Motorola Europe send out the following info to it’s customers, elaborating on the current status of the much awaited Android 2.0.1 update for the MILESTONE smartphone:

‘Being open’ and ‘giving consumers choice’ have been two of the strongest arguments for Android, ever since its initial release.

While Apple has received lots of heat for controlling which applications make it into their virtual software retail store – a practice in fact pretty common for every retailer around the globe – does this mean that Google controls the Android ecosystem even closer than we thought it should would?

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Motorola CLIQ users are still stuck with Android 1.6. Hence, the company is not exactly known for speedy updates. Do they now bluntly try to blame Google for what’s really their own fault?

Or has Google not been all that open with respect to how Android updates are handled?

One could argue, this might just be an indication of how closely Google works with it’s partners.

But clearly: Motorola does not say they’ve asked Google for some consulting or final quality assurance. They explicitly state, they are awaiting Google’s approval and can thus not proceed with what they consider being the finished update. Or, in other words: Blame Google. If it would be on us, you would all be updated already!

We’ve contacted Motorola to clarify A-Z the exact process that needs to be executed for an update to be rolled out to end users.

By the way, thanks to our beloved Editor in Chief, who happens to live in the United Kingdom, I today got my Nexus One shipped to Germany.

Given my somewhat negative position as towards many of the subtle usability flaws in Android’s user interface, that did not change after having used Android 2.1, I have to admit, it is a fantastic phone and might very well replace my iPhone 3GS.

Unfortunately, the US version which is currently shipping does not have multi-touch for Google’s native apps (Maps, Browser, etc.) and it doesn’t do turn-by-turn navigation for any route outside the US.

Besides that, it’s without any doubt the best Android powered smartphone you can get these. It delivers a far superior experience compared to the Milestone and every other Android powered device, I got my hands on.