It’s reported that Acer has cancelled the launch in China of a new smartphone running the Aliyun cloud-based mobile operating system. Aliyun, which had been developed by the Alibaba Group, is already available on a number of devices from other manufacturers.
Alibaba is quoted as saying Google had told Acer it would terminate its Android-based cooperation and technology licensing if the launch went ahead. The Chinese company also insists its OS is built on open-source Linux and isn’t derived from Android.
Andy Rubin from Google has responded to comments by Alibaba’s John Spelich by saying “We agree that the Aliyun OS is not part of the Android ecosystem and you're under no requirement to be compatible. However, the fact is, Aliyun uses the Android runtime, framework and tools. And your app store contains Android apps (including pirated Google apps). So there's really no disputing that Aliyun is based on the Android platform and takes advantage of all the hard work that's gone into that platform by the OHA.
So if you want to benefit from the Android ecosystem, then make the choice to be compatible. Its easy, free, and we'll even help you out. But if you don't want to be compatible, then don't expect help from OHA members that are all working to support and build a unified Android ecosystem.”
[More details: TechInAsia.com; CNET.com; BBC News; FOSS Patents]