There's no denying the fact that Android is the most used operating system globally and Google wants to bring some ground rules to the table now for manufacturers to exert its branding. Google is creating a mandate for manufacturers that the devices upon being fired up will display “Powered by Android” branding at the bottom of start screens and the Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8) are the first devices to feature the message.
The mandate to show the message has become a part of the Google Mobile Services license that the manufacturers have to adhere to in order to ship the devices which access to the Play Store and Google's slew of proprietary services such as Gmail, Google+ and the likes.
Google has refused to comment on the same and the guidelines don't explicitly mention the same, but the word on the street courtesy of some credible sources is that the same is true.
The change won't be applicable to the devices getting shipped henceforth, but will be applicable to the ones that will get an OTA update in future as well. The current updates which are rolling out or are due to be rolled out soon won't feature the logo as their code would have been frozen a while ago and there's no point in altering the already ready updates.
Google is trying to tell the customers that they are using Android device but customers hardly restart their devices these days. People often relate with device ranges such as the Galaxy range, Droid range, Desire and the likes but the underpinning is always Android.
Let us see if Google's new mandate goes on to build customer loyalty towards Android.
To be updated...