Even there's no investigation, the organism studies the conditions that Google puts to the manufacters that decide to use Android in their devices and could violate laws antimonopoly from the European Union.
Android, as plataform, could considrate itself as the union of two products. First, known as AOSP (Android Open Source Project), an operative system for mobiles open which Google makes avalible for anyone. A phone with AOSP isn't as Android. Is just a terminal with elements and basic apps.
What companies like Samsung, LG, Sony or HTC do is sign an “Distribution agreement of mobile apps” that allows them to have services and apps of Google that are not “open” with their famous apps , Mail , social networks, Google Play Store, and a lot of stuff that has became almost something essential for Android experience.
To sign this agreement, companies must have a compatibility certificate which price, can be over 75 cents for each device.
Those companies that accept it cannot
create a mobile platform based in Android.
Also, the company can’t choose the apps
that Google wants to install by default they’re required to install all of
them.
New documents are presented in the trial
between Google and Oracle in USA shows that the agreement also forces to the
devices to install official apps in
specific places of the device.
European Commission started to study in
April last year if this conditions suppose a disadvantage to services and apps
of thirds but only for now, they’re planting a formal investigation against
Google.
Joaquin Almunia, European commissary of
competence, showed this week in a interview to the French newspaper Le Monde
that the last decision was no still taken.
Android reached during 2013 a market
share near 80%. This types of practices would put Google in a similar situation
as Microsoft in the last decade, when he decided to include Internet Explorer
as default in Windows operative system
