Google statement regarding “support for CDMA devices” [Verizon Galaxy Nexus]

Written by Robert Nelson

Gadgetell - Gadgetell Topics

Yesterday afternoon the geekier side of the web exploded into controversy and confusion when someone noticed that the CDMA version of the Galaxy Nexus had been removed from the google support pages. Of course, as many will realize, the CDMA version of the Galaxy Nexus is the Verizon version. That being said, many many immediately thought the worst and people were claiming that the Verizon Galaxy Nexus had lost its Nexus status. But that being said, the folks over at Droid-Life reached out to Google for a statement and found that things are not nearly as bad as they seemed. In short, the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is still a Nexus device and it will still receive the quick updates that users expect when using a Nexus device. Lastly, those looking for more of an answer — here is the statement that was received from Google;

For various technical reasons, recent CDMA Android devices implement core telephony functionality in .apk files provided in binary form by the carriers. To function correctly, these .apk files must be signed by the so-called “platform” key. However, when an individual creates a custom build from the AOSP source code, they don’t use the same signing key as these CDMA flies were signed with.

The result is that these files don’t work properly, and pure AOSP builds running on these devices can’t place calls, access mobile data, and so on. Because we aim to make sure that we are as clear as possible about the degree of support that devices have, we updated the docs over at source.android.com to reflect this reality.

We will still make available as many as possible of the closed-source binaries for these devices, and Nexus devices will continue to have unlockable bootloaders. And, of course, GSM/HSPA+ devices are still supported, as are any other devices we’re able to support. We’ve simply updated the documentation to be clearer about the current extent of CDMA support.

We are of course always working to improve support, and we’ll keep everyone updated as we make improvements. Thanks as always for your interest in AOSP!

Via [Droid-Life]

NTD Source: http://goo.gl/KaCN6