
And so this situation is starting to get ridiculous - and consumers are, as usual, caught in the middle of it all. Google has just blocked Windows Phone devices from accessing Google Maps on their phones. In addition, it also seems Windows Phone users are now restricted to the basic HTML version of the mobile GMail website. While understandable from a defensive perspective - Microsoft's extortion scheme targeting Android device makers and all that - it's still a massive dick move that only hurts consumers.
Update: the media attention has worked - Google is backpedalling,
and will remove the redirect. "We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users. In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that’s why there is no redirect for those users. Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users."
Member since:
2009-02-02
Its not just Android device makers. Its Linux device makers including Android.
TomTom (Linux GPS Devices)
Amazon. (Linux Servers and Android)
Buffalo (Linux NAS) Devices.
Amdocs (A User using Linux Servers)
Casio (Linux devices non-android)
Itronix(General Dynamics owns them now) (Rugged Linux Notebooks for the military.
Onkyo (Audio Sytems with Linux integrated)
IO Data (Linux NAS servers)
Kyocera Mita (Copiers with embedded Linux)
Brother International Corp (Printers w/embedded Linux)
Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd(copiers,Printers w/embedded Linux)
Kyocera Mita Corp (copiers, printers w/embedded Linux)
There are more.
Microsoft has vowed to use software-patents to destroy the use of the Linux kernel in the marketplace by driving up the cost as much as possible. This is their plan in action.