Will developers leave Google’s Android high and dry?

Apple suffered a case of the hiccups last week with the launch of the iPhone 3G and MobileMe, but Google is struggling with a serious developers’ revolt months ahead of Android’s scheduled launch.
Android developers began getting antsy a few weeks ago due to the lack of communication regarding an updated SDK (software development kit). One code-writer started an online petition on Android’s Google Group, urging the company to offer an update on the progress of the SDK “in order not to lose many highly encouraged developers.”
The post drew a flurry of responses from other disillusioned software types, several of whom threatened to leave the project in favor of other smartphone platforms. “I lost patience long ago,” wrote one developer who vowed to leave Android by the end of the month if the situation doesn’t improve.
And that frustration isn’t coming just from third-party developers. “The Google Android people who read the groups hear you,” responded one Google Android engineer identified as JBQ. “We understand your pain, we communicate it back up to our management, we’re not happy about the situation either, we’d love more openness too.”
Google threw gasoline on the fire last week when word was leaked that the new SDK would be available only to the 50 winners of its Android Developer Challenge. And the company added insult to injury by mistakenly sending the news to all members of the community – not just the winners, to whom the SDK will be available.
“Wonder how many of us would have actually gotten behind Android if we knew that they were going to only cater to the top 50,” one developer responded. “Definitely feel betrayed.”
A few Android backers defended Google’s strategy, saying the release of an SDK that isn’t fully baked would draw a more severe reaction from the developer community, potentially resulting in a public-relations nightmare.
But the recent flare-up – and Google’s inability to do anything but fan the flames – comes at a crucial time for Android. The platform seems to have lost much of the momentum gained at last year’s coming-out party, while Apple has changed the game with its iPhone and App Store. Meanwhile, competing smartphone technologies such as Symbian and the LiMo Foundation seem to be gaining steam as the market consolidates, and OpenMoko is quietly making its move.Consumers will be the winners, of course, as the Internet continues to converge with wireless and user-friendly, cutting-edge devices come to market. But developers are benefiting, too, from having several viable smartphone platforms upon which they can build their wares. Plenty of options exist for those considering abandoning Android – and most of the alternate platforms already have handsets in the market. Google is helping the industry move toward “openness” with Android, but keeping developers in the dark seems like a sure way to drive them away and doom the platform before it has a chance to compete.